By Ramatoulie Jawo
Honourable Kebba Lang Fofana, Nominated National Assembly Member, has called on the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs to focus on investing in agriculture, fisheries, and education as key sectors to strengthen the Gambian economy.
Hon. Fofana made these remarks during the adjournment debate of the Second Ordinary Session of the National Assembly for the 2024 legislative year.
“To the Ministry of Finance, I will encourage them (Ministry of Finance), to start working on ways and means whereby we can grow our sovereign wealth. And to do this we have to start investing in the productive base of the economy of our country,” Hon. Fofana said.
He emphasized that this approach would enhance the country’s revenue, particularly in taxation, and expand the national budget.
“But increasing taxes every year is going to increase the burden on the citizenry, and eventually, their real wage which is their purchase power will go down, so I will encourage the Ministry of Finance to start prioritizing the productive base from the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Fisheries, and the Ministry of Tourism, let us prioritize these sectors and work on a productive base on a sustainable basis so that we can graduate from this,” Hon. Fofana stated.Hon. Fofana acknowledged the efforts of the Gambia’s development partners, such as the IMF and the World Bank, but pointed out that history shows these institutions have not developed any country.
“If we want to develop we have to do it for ourselves, so the time is now,” Hon. Fofana said.
He also discussed the operations of GiEPA and the issue of Special Investment Certificates. These certificates are granted to investors who commit to investing in prioritized sectors with specified investment values and employment targets for Gambians.
“We want to know whether at any moment there was an audit update of those Special I Investment Certificates those Investors have fulfilled their commitments, have they invested the values as per their proposed business plans, and have they employed the number of individuals that was proposed, because the Special Investment Certificates come with incentives and privileges. And those privileges eventually result in revenue losses,” Hon. Fofana said.
To balance the economy, he stressed that holders of the Special Investment Certificates must meet their obligations.
“So again to the Ministry of Finance or Trade, we want to know how they are faring with that Special Investment Certificates,” he asked.