Banjul, 10 March 2025: The Hon. Minister of Petroleum, Energy, and Mines, Nani Juwara delivered a compelling keynote address at the 10th Powering Africa Summit in Washington, D.C, outlining the country’s impressive progress in overcoming its longstanding electricity supply challenges, and government’s relentless commitment to the goal of providing reliable, and affordable power to Gambian people.
. “For years, The Gambia has struggled with severe load shedding, with frequent power outages becoming part of everyday life. This was largely due to the lack of investment in our energy sector, particularly in generation, transmission, and distribution,” he remarked.
However, the Minister explained that since the change of government in 2017, The Gambia has placed significant emphasis on transforming the energy sector. “We have worked tirelessly with global partners such as the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, the European Union, and the African Development Bank to redefine our energy landscape,” he stated, affirming that their goal has always been to provide reliable, affordable power to “our people.”
A key component of this transformation was the development of a comprehensive energy roadmap. The roadmap, initially designed to cover the period from 2017 to 2021, was later extended to span until 2040. “This roadmap outlines strategic objectives for modernising our energy sector, and one of the key goals is to build partnerships with neighbouring countries for power imports at the least cost,” the Minister explained.
In 2018, The Gambia took a major step toward this goal by entering into a bilateral power purchase agreement with Senegal. “This agreement allowed us to begin importing power from Senegal to stabilise our electricity supply. It marked the beginning of our efforts to end the days of regular load shedding,” the Energy minister further remarked. He said this partnership was further expanded in 2020 and 2021, allowing for the importation of up to 50 MW of electricity from Senegal.
Mr Juwara also highlighted a significant milestone achieved in February 2025, when government successfully commissioned a new 225 kV transmission line and a substation with a dispatch capacity of 140 MW. This upgrade, he explained, ensures that more power can be imported and distributed more efficiently, addressing the earlier infrastructure constraints.
As part of regional energy cooperation, The Gambia has also engaged in several subregional energy projects including its membership in the River Basin Development Organization, in which it participated in projects that have connected it with Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea-Conakry through a high-voltage network. This, the Minister said, has facilitated the importation of hydropower from Guinea, in addition to the power purchase agreement with Guinea in 2019.
Minister Juwara also mentioned that The Gambia is exploring a similar arrangement with Côte d’Ivoire to import electricity generated from gas-to-power plants. “This would further diversify our energy sources and ensure more affordable power,” he stated.
The Hon. Minister expressed confidence in the long-term success of these regional projects, pointing out that The Gambia’s integration into the Greater West African Power Pool electricity network has been a game-changer. He said it gives the country the opportunity to import and export electricity with neighbouring countries, contributing to regional energy security and ensuring a more stable power supply for the people.
Reflecting on the country’s partnerships, the Minister acknowledged the importance of international cooperation, noting that while the country has faced challenges, its partnerships with the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, the African Development Bank, and other bilateral partners have been essential in overcoming the hurdles, and in driving the development of the energy sector.
In his concluding remarks, the Gambian Energy, Petroleum and Mines Minister expressed optimism for the future of The Gambia’s energy sector, while expressing belief that with continual support from international partners and the government’s determination to build a sustainable energy future, “The Gambia is poised to achieve energy security and contribute to the broader regional energy market”.
By Anna Marie Valentine
