By Mustapha K Darboe

BANJUL, Gambia

Gambian President Adama Barrow has said that his government made some steady progress in overcoming the gloomy economic outlook he inherited from his predecessor Yahya Jammeh.

Barrow came to power in December 2016 when the country's public debt had reached 120 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), with rising youth unemployment at 38 percent and poverty level at 48 percent.

“It has not been easy but overall, there was steady progress… And we are very hopeful than before,” Barrow said, speaking exclusively to Anadolu Agency in the capital Banjul.

“If you look at the economic figures there has been a lot of progress. When we came in power, there was less than one month of import cover, and the latest figures are showing that we have up to four months of import cover. That is beyond the three-month standard. Interest rates used to be 17.4 percent and now latest is 15 percent. Borrowing has gone down and in the area of spending we have been very disciplined.”

The Gambia has recently been ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the sub-region by Transparency International.

Barrow said though there are still challenges in combating corruption his government has made huge efforts in fighting the menace.

“We were able to do a comprehensive staff audit and we discovered about 3,000 ghost workers. This saves us an amount equivalent to 1.3 percent of our GDP,” he said.

"Also government financial transactions have been made stricter to make sure proper checks are in place.”

OIC conference 2019

The Gambia will host the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit next year in November. Barrow said his government has also gone far “into the preparation for the OIC summit” with the help of key partners such as Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait and Turkey.

“We want to make sure we organize a very successful one. The event is a big opportunity to host… The Saudis were here recently and the Kuwaitis as well,” he said.

“Turkey is the current chair of the OIC and they have also made pledges. They have a very serious leadership and we have no doubt in their commitment…”

Barrow said his foreign policy has helped the Gambia to “regain the respect we deserve” within the community of nations.

Conflict within

The Gambian leader is also facing several challenges resulting in disunity within the coalition government that brought him to power.

Some weeks ago, Barrow fired his former Vice President Fatoumatta Jallow Tambajang and replaced her with Ousainou Darboe in a major cabinet reshuffle that cost three other ministers their jobs.

And since then, some of his partners are insisting that he has betrayed the coalition agenda and should resign after the three-year transitional program that they have agreed on.

But Barrow said the work the country’s democratic transition requires cannot be done in three years.

“Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission is on, the constitutional review commission, it will be premature for me to leave the government without completing it -- to make sure a new constitution is in place and new registrations for the election…,” said Barrow.