The Executive Director of World Bank Africa Group 1 Constituency, Dr. Floribert Ngaruko made a 2-day (16-17 February 2023) working visit to the Gambia to familiarise himself with the institutions and projects supported by the World Bank in the country. Dr. Ngaruko, a Burundi national, is the Executive Director for a group of 22 African countries including The Gambia and has been Alternate Executive Director for the same Constituency at the World Bank Group from 2020 -2022. The Africa Group One (AFG1) Constituency 22 countries are Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The Office has a dual responsibility. The first is to represent the interests of these Constituency members at the Executive Board of the WBG and to liaise with the respective Governors on issues relevant to the entire constituency or a particular member of the constituency. As such, the Office supports dialogue between the WBG and constituency countries and engages in consultations with other Executive Directors and Management to support efforts to achieve the twin goals of reducing extreme poverty to 3 percent by 2030 and promoting income growth of the bottom 40 percent in a sustainable manner. The second is the fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interests of the organization as a whole, and among others approve the use of financial resources by all WBG entities and policies that impact the organization’s general operations and use of resources.

On his visit to The Gambia, Mr. Ngaruko paid a courtesy call to the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Hon. Seedy K.M. Keita at his office in Banjul. He is expected to visit and have a talk with the Central Bank Governor, the Ministries of Tourism and Culture, Agriculture, Digital Economy, Petroleum and Energy, Environment, Gender, Children and Social Welfare, and finally, the Office of the President.

During his deliberation with the Minister of Finance, Dr. Floribert congratulated Hon. Keita on the country’s achievements in winning more support from the Bank. Further to this, he spoke about reforms that the Bank is expected to undergo to be more responsive to global crises like the war in Ukraine and climate change disasters and their disruption to economies. He also talked about mainstreaming consumer package goods (CPGs) into the global agenda to enhance sustainability and resilience. He noted that the challenges to tackling the myriad of issues required more resources. He ended his deliberation regarding the general implementation of the World Bank portfolio in the country as good but needs improvement.

On his part Hon. Seedy Keita congratulated Dr. Ngaruko on his appointment as E.D., heading a constituent of 22 African countries. Aside from this, Hon. Keita expressed challenges faced by the country due to the Ukraine crisis and thanked the Bank for stepping in to provide support in different areas amounting to $50 million different from the ongoing projects. He added that the Bank should consider supporting the infrastructural development of the country, reiterating that the development agenda of the government should not be left in the hands of development partners alone.

In a frank expression, Mr. Keita delved more into the theoretical aspects of development quoting the struggles and sacrifices of the Asian Tigers (China, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.) and what they went through to lift millions of people out of poverty within a span of three decades. He revealed that development is a continuous process and as such, the narratives have to change.

Talking about the public good agenda, he urged the Bank to look inward and disenfranchise information for the benefit of member states. In his quest to see rapid development for the country, Minister Keita urges the Bank to listen to ‘us’ to experiment with ‘our’ development agenda (the opportunities to try new things) just as the Asian Tigers did.

In a deeply concerned tone, Hon. Keita expressed the difficulties faced by developing countries, saying “no country has emerged from being a third world country to middle income through the Briton Woods institutions”. Therefore, he urged these institutions to open up the space for developing countries to explore their development agenda without being limited or conditioned.

The meeting ended with both parties convinced that something fruitful will come out of the franked discussions.