The ECOWAS Commission, in collaboration with The Government of the Republic of The Gambia and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on Monday, 15^th April, 2019 launched the Gambia Stabilization Fund in Banjul.

The launch took place at the State House in Banjul, under the chairmanship of His Excellency Mr. Adama Barrow, President of the Republic of the Gambia. Also in attendance were Honourable Ebrima Camara, Secretary General, Office of The President, Honourable Mamadou Tangara, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honourable Lamin Jobe, Minister of Trade, Industry, Employment and Regional Integration, overseeing the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs as well as other Gambian government officials.

The ECOWAS Commission delegation was lead by the Vice-President, Her Excellency Madam Finda Koroma, and comprised of Mr. Mamadou Traore, Commissioner for Industry and Private Sector Promotion, Her Excellency Mrs. Vabah Gayflor, ECOWAS Permanent Representative to The Gambia, as well as other officials of the ECOWAS Commission.

The German delegation was lead by Dr. Stephen Oswald, Director General 2, Marshal Plan with Africa, Displacement and Migration at the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Migration (BMZ) and comprised of officials from KfW and GIZ.

Honourable Lamin Jobe signed the project agreement on behalf of the Gambia Government whilst Her Excellency Madam Finda Koroma and Dr. Stephen Oswald signed on behalf of the ECOWAS Commission and BMZ, respectively.

The project implementation agency, the Gambia Agency for the Management of Public Works (GAMWORKS) was represented by Mr. Omar Gaye, Technical Director, who signed on behalf of his organisation.

The Gambia Stabilisation Fund is part of the implementation of the Regional Stabilisation and Development Fund in support of ECOWAS Member States financed through the KfW (German Financial Cooperation) and GIZ (German Technical Cooperation). BMZ has committed €10 million to the Gambia Stabilisation Fund, whilst the ECOWAS Commission has committed €1.1 million to the Regional Stabilisation Fund.

The overall goal of the Gambia Stabilisation Fund is to contribute to the stability and sustainable development of The Gambia through the creation of new employment and income opportunities; especially for the youths. This will be achieved through financing basic infrastructure and equipment along selected value chains, which include horticulture, poultry and fishery and also by investing in vocational trainings/skills development for youths and strengthening local capacities along the selected value chains.

The three main intervention areas in the Gambia will include the Greater Banjul Area (GBA), the Lower River Region (LRR), the Central River Region (CRR) and the Upper River Region (URR). The programme will be executed by the Gambian Agency for the Management of Public Works (GAMWORKS) as the Project Executing Agency (PEA).

The Regional Stabilisation Fund as a whole shall serve as a flexible funding instrument that can be employed to address stabilisation needs arising from pre-existing or newly emerging socio-economic crises, conflicts and fragility in member-states, in a timely manner.

The ECOWAS Commission, in collaboration with the Gambia Government, KfW and GIZ is now working on the implementation of the project. To this effect, a retreat will be organized prior to the first meeting of the steering committee and prior to the start of implementation. The objective of the retreat is to bring together all the stakeholders who will be involved in the implementation of the project, to create common understanding about the project. This is expected to make implementation easier, to achieve the desired results.