FactCheck: Was Gambia’s Tax-Revenue in 2022 Less Than D10 Billion?
Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Hon Lamin Jabbie © Unknown
Claim 1: “…revenue base for the whole country, whole government for one year, in 2022, was not more than D10 billion.” Claim 2: …by 2024, the revenue base increased from D10 billion to almost D20.8 billion
Source: Minister Lamin Jabbie, Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy (MoCDE).
Verdict: Mixture
Claims
On 3rd October 2025, during his appearance at the Mansa Kunda Town Hall Engagement held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara Centre in Bijilo, MoCDE Minister Lamin Jabbie, stated:
Watch from the 9th to the 11th minute mark.
Background:
The Mansa Kunda Town Hall is a government-led public engagement initiative designed to promote proactive disclosure of public information and improve transparency, accountability, and engagement between government officials and citizens, according to its proponents, the Ministry of Information.
This government town hall brings cabinet ministers and senior government officials, including department heads, to discuss national issues, give updates on their ministries’ or agencies’ work, and directly respond to public questions and concerns.
Last month, it was the turn of Minister Jabbie to tell the town hall about MoCDE’s work and plans to embrace digitalization across government functions through the launch of e-government initiatives.
Jabbie explained that his ministry is “carving out and pushing for a day, very soon, possibly within a year or two, where all interactions between citizens and the government, businesses and the government, and even inter-agency communications will take place online. This will help reduce the cost of governance and improve service delivery efficiency.”
He said that as part of this digital transformation, “even the tax revenue, we expect it to increase.” This statement formed the basis of his claim that in 2022, the total tax revenue collected was not more than D10 billion, and that the implementation of digital tools significantly boosted this figure by 2024.
Actual tax-revenues collected from 2019 to 2024. Data compiled from MoFEA Budgets 2021 to 2026. (Digitised by Edward F. Dalliah after MoFEA)
Factcheck
To verify the Minister’s claims, our reporter conducted budget research by compiling actual revenues collected by the government as reported in six budgets from 2021 to the 2026 draft budgets.
The research shows that in 2022, government revenue was 11.2 billion dalasi, rising to D20.27 billion in 2024. The chart above shows that the last time tax revenue collected was below the D10 billion mark was in 2019.
Did the Revenue Base Increased to D20.8 billion?
Although the MoFEA published data highlighting that only D20.27 billion was collected in 2024, the claim that tax revenue increased to D20.8 may be correct according to the Gambia Revenue Authority Commissioner General Mr. Yankuba Darboe.
Our reporter had attended a press conference organized by the GRA in early January 2025 where Commissioner General Darboe declared that his institution collected D20.83 billion in 2024. The GRA is responsible for collecting tax revenue, however, they report directly the MoFEA who acts as their line Manager. Our review highlights that different information is being reported by the MoFEA and GRA.
The difference may appear negligible, but the difference is over D550 million, which is significant to most Gambians. In fact, further comparison of the data from MoFEA, GBOs (who credit MoFEA) and GRA shows that there are significant differences between them.
To seek confirmation from the Minister, our researcher sent a request for information letter to Hon. Jabbie on 30th October 2025, seeking comments. However, until the date of publication, he has not responded. As soon as a response is received, it will be published for our readers.
Data on tax revenue compiled from MoFEA, GRA and GBoS in millions
Verdict:
Based on our findings, Jabbie’s claim that the revenue base for the government in 2022 was not more than D10 billion is false.
Data from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) indicates that the last time tax revenue collected was below the D10 billion target was in 2019. This is also corroborated by tax revenue data collected from the Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBOS).
However, the verdict for the second claim that the revenue base increased to D20.8 billion is false according to data taken from MoFEA, however, the same claim is true according to data shared by the GRA Commissioner General. Due to conflicting data, this second claim cannot be conclusively verified.
Verdict: MIXTURE
Editor’s Note: A mixture is a conclusion that the claim(s) are a mix of accurate and inaccurate content.
This FactCheck was first published by FactCheckGambia.org in the link: https://factcheckgambia.org/2025/11/19/factcheck-was-gambias-tax-revenue-in-2022-less-than-d10-billion/
