The Special Select Committee's report on the disposal of Jammeh's assets makes for sobering reading. It provides a gripping account of administrative incompetence, institutional dysfunction, and governance failures.

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Dr Ousman Gajigo highlights the Ministry of Agriculture’s “misplaced priorities” observed during the tabling of the National Food Security Corporation Bill. In this publication, Dr Gajigo argues against the licensing of the import and export of groundnuts, for which Minister Sabally advocated heavy fines reaching D5 million and 5 years’ imprisonment.

More in this detailed opinion piece.

The press recently quoted the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) announcing a cut to its monetary policy rate (MPR). The MPR is one of the key tools of monetary policy, and it is the interest rate set by the CBG to manage and guide market interest rates. Within the same press report, the CBG projected strong economic growth.

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The government's annual purchase of groundnuts from farmers is not a long-term viable strategy. It is fiscally draining, has been short-changing farmers, and is a commercial activity for which government entities are ill-suited. It is high time the country implements a strategy that meets the modern needs of the Gambian economy and of farmers in particular.

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Recently, the government announced a temporary restriction on the importation of potatoes and onions, ostensibly to protect local producers. On the surface, this seems like a good decision. However, on closer inspection, it is not the action of a government that is serious about supporting local industry or farmers, particularly smallholders.

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In a recent press statement, Dr Ismaila Ceesay claimed that The Gambia is on course to achieve universal electricity access before the end of 2026. This is not a new claim by the government. Dr Ceesay previously claimed that The Gambia would achieve universal access by 2025, which was the official position of the government. Just as that claim turned out to be false, this new claim is equally false for several reasons.

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Dr Ousman Gajigo observes that Tourists staying in Gambian hotels are increasingly crossing into Senegal for nature and cultural experiences that should be found at home, exposing a costly leakage in the country’s tourism economy.

From the neglect of Abuko Nature Reserve and Sindola Safari Park to poor integration with agriculture and local communities, government inaction has left the sector shallow and enclave-driven, argues Dr Gajigo.

As arrivals become the sole metric of success, the deeper value of tourism—jobs, linkages, and shared prosperity—continues to diminish. More in this opinion piece.

After the government issued a statement setting the price of groundnut at D38,000 per tonne and creating a monopoly on Gambian groundnuts, numerous critics highlighted that the price has remained stagnant for three years while the cost of living continues to increase.

One critic, Dr Gajigo, has followed this up with a publication calling for a wake-up call for a national discussion on the price of groundnuts for farmers. He argues, “There are many reasons why” this year’s “price is extremely low given the Gambian context.”

Find out his reasons in this opinion piece.

Opposition leader, economist and agripreneur Dr Ousman Gajigo criticises the government’s failure to govern and face the reality. In his latest piece, he believes that the government is “increasingly out of touch with reality” and “persistently claiming the opposite of what real people are experiencing every single day”.

According to Dr Gajigo, “Over the past couple of months, the country has been facing food security challenges, a migrant crisis, and health sector problems. Yet officials in the Adama Barrow government would have you disbelieve your own eyes.”

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Economist and politician Dr Ousman Gajigo opines that recent statements from the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Regional Integration (MOTIE) and Jah Oil Company regarding the cement crisis are false.

Although he notes that the statements are quite similar in their purported explanation, Dr Gajigo believes that both statements provided a false explanation for a completely avoidable cement crisis situation.

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