By Mahzouba Maya Faal
The officials of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST) said they have secured the funding required to complete the construction of the University of The Gambia’s (UTG) Faraba Banta Campus.
The Arab Bank of Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) provided US$15 Million following the initial provision of US$7 Million in December 2021. This brings the total funds to US$22 million, equivalent to over D1.1 billion at a rate of D53 to US$1.
This development was revealed recently by the Hon Minister of Higher Education Prof. Pierre Gomez; the Deputy Permanent Secretary (Technical) Dr Yusupha Touray; and Project Manager Abdoulie Sowe, who have just completed a trip to Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh.
The Gambian delegation was led by the Minister of Finance, Hon. Seedy Keita who was accompanied by the Governor of Central Bank, Buah Saidy.
The IsDB just concluded its 2022 Annual Meeting in Egypt which gathered over 2,000 participants including donors and stakeholders from its 57 member countries.
In his remarks, the Hon. Minister, Pierre Gomez explained that the main objective of their mission was to ensure that within a short period, Faraba is delivered because it has taken 12 years now since the project started.
“It was around 2006 that they signed the contract for the building but the whole process started 12 years ago; so up until now it is not complete. We want to make sure that it is done. We are lucky to have a very dynamic Minister of Finance in Hon. Seedy Keita who facilitated things for us so that we got the support and the pledges”.
In the past ten years, IsDB and BADEA co-financed more than a dozen projects in Ivory Coast, Guinea, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Mali, Senegal, Chad, Niger, Togo and Mozambique. These co-financing operations were in sectors; such as education, water, sanitation, urban development, agriculture, transportation, energy, health and trade.
According to the Deputy Permanent Secretary, Dr. Touray, the trip was a successful one. “We’ve had all that we need to complete the most important component and there are promises to even come in for the conditional package, something we will have to take up with the Ministry of Finance and cabinet. We’re glad to say that the Ministry is out of the woods now,” he remarked.