Ebrima G. Sankareh
Government Spokesperson & Presidential Diaspora Adviser
Press Release Dated: 31st December, 2024
Banjul, The Gambia —In the wake of worrying concerns from Gambian farmers over the deployment of digital payment platforms for the current Groundnut Trade Season, His Excellency, President Adama Barrow instructed the Ministers of Agriculture and Finance to convene a meeting with farmers’ representatives and stakeholders to immediately address the situation.
Responding to farmers’ queries during the meeting held at the Agriculture Ministry’s offices in Banjul yesterday, the Agriculture Minister, Dr. Demba Sabally, told QGroup to increase payments services across the 95 Seccos nationwide or 39 Districts to ease monetary transactions for farmers. Mr. Sabally highlighted the singular importance of farmers to the Gambian economy and agriculture as a Government priority. Finance Minister Seedy Keita assured farmers of the Government’s steadfastness in providing resources to their sectors.
Alagie Ceesay, vice president of The Gambia Farmers’ Union (GFU) blamed inadequate sensitization on the new QMoney digital payment platform, insufficient payout agents across the country and limited availability of cash at the trading centres as major problems.
Musa Sowe of the National Coordinating Organization of Farmers in The Gambia (NACOFAG) and Abdoulie S. Khan of the Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Societies (FACs), echoed the challenges raised by GFU while encouraging farmers to cooperate with the Government in finding lasting solutions.
Muhammed Jah, Chairman and CEO of QGroup, which partners with the National Food Security, Processing and Marketing Corporation in the groundnut trade, thanked Government for the timely response to farmers’ concerns as evident in the meeting with Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, the Deputy Government Spokesperson, and senior officials. Mr. Jah promised to intensify the QMoney sensitization campaign across the country, deploy more agents and synchronise cash payments to the Seccos. To accomplish this, the QGroup has deployed 500 people to train stakeholders across the country, purchased 8 vehicles to expedite the movement of workers and ensure sufficient and timely delivery of cash.
The 2024 Groundnut Trade Season began in earnest on Monday 2nd December, 2024 and is scheduled to end on 2nd March, 2025 across the country. This year’s market price is pegged at Thirty-Eight Thousand Dalasis (D38,000.00) per tonne, which is significantly higher than countries within our subregion.
The adoption of the new payment system is premised on The Gambia Government’s overall national digital transformation strategy and the resolve to prevent leakages in the transaction value chain. This is particularly true, considering that The Gambia Government lost over Hundred Million Dalasis (D100M) in the previous trade seasons due to missing cash. The QMoney option aims to circumvent any further recurrence of this financial malpractice to the detriment of hard-working farmers.
To ensure transparency and a smooth-running trade season, a new Task Force of stakeholders headed by the Permanent Secretary at Agriculture is now established to routinely monitor the progress and viability of the new payment mechanism.
Sign:
Ebrima G. Sankareh
The Gambia Government Spokesperson & Presidential Diaspora Adviser