By Fatoumata Joof
The Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Professor Pierre Gomez, together with the Deputy Permanent Secretary (Admin/Finance) and senior management team of the Ministry, on Tuesday, 19th August, 2025, received in audience the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Southern Cooperation (OSC), Mr. Manssour Bin Mussallam; Under-Secretary-General for Research, Evaluation, and Foresight.
The visit was to strengthen the already existing partnership between the two institutions and to support the Ministry’s transformation agenda in the areas of research, science and technology, as well as scholarship opportunities for The Gambia.
The meeting centred mainly on the ongoing plan to establish the first-ever Interdisciplinary Research Centre in The Gambia as part of the rollout of the two research centres to be established in the Global South by the Organisation of the Southern Cooperation (OSC). The Gambia has been identified to house the Centre for the Africa Region, while the second Centre will be in Latin America.
Minister Gomez expressed his ministry’s willingness to continue its partnership with the OSC in the areas of Science, Technology, Innovation, Research, and the establishment of the research centre in particular. He said the Centre will host diverse researchers who can collaborate and share knowledge with home-based researchers, and their research outputs will play a pivotal role in addressing the country’s challenges.
He announced that the ministry has already identified a place at the University of The Gambia for the establishment of the centre and also other alternative locations such as Civil Service University. He highlighted the ongoing activities and processes that his ministry is undertaking to ensure the smooth establishment of the centre in The Gambia.
The Minister noted that it is very strategic for the Ministry to work with the Organisation of Southern Cooperation on research, science and technology, pointing out that they are critical components of the Ministry’s development drive.
The Secretary-General of the Organisation of Southern Cooperation, Mr. Manssour Bin Mussallam, thanked the Honourable Minister and Deputy Permanent Secretary for expressing willingness and commitment to partnering with his organisation in the area of higher education, research and technology. He commended the Minister for his visionary leadership and for proactive work on his ministry’s vision; especially in the establishment of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre with his team and implementing the Greater South Information System in various universities in The Gambia.
He disclosed that in November 2024 during the General Assembly of the Organisation of the Southern Cooperation in Addis Ababa, the Honourable Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, represented the Republic of The Gambia during the ratification for the establishment of the Centre in Banjul, as well as the mandate to establish additional centres in other regions of the Greater South.
He added that the OSC General Assembly adopted various projects in the sector of the Ministry’s mandate centred on building knowledge power societies such as the Sudden Research, Innovation Application Fund (SORIA) and the FREIRE framework which aims to address the funding gap of research in the member countries and re-enforce study exchanges between youths and regions through education.
He highlighted that as part of the framework every year the organisation plan to increase steps towards the mobility scheme through the annual postgraduate scholarship programme. He announced that last year the OSC granted over 300 scholarships to citizens of the OSC member states to study in Brazil. Adding that this year, about 400 students will be granted scholarship to study in Brazil and that his organisation plans to extend the same scholarship to India in 2026. “In addition, the OSC plans to pilot the FREIRE framework as a mobility scheme by involving three universities in the Africa Region and three universities in the Latin America and Southeast Asia”.
Mr. Bin Mussallam confirmed that one university from The Gambia will be included in this pilot programme, facilitating student mobility across the three regions and further integrating The Gambia into the global academic landscape.
