FactCheck: Is The Gambia Amongst the 10 Poorest Countries in Africa?
Myor Talib Bensouda at Launch © UMC
On October 2, the Mayor of the Kanifing Municipality, Talib Ahmed Bensouda, announced that he was forming a “Unite Movement for Change,” a new political platform aimed at contesting the 2026 presidential election.
The announcement, made via a video and posted on social media, marked his departure from the main opposition, the United Democratic Party (UDP), where he was the National Organising Secretary.
The move was seen as “a bold political maneuver that could reshape Gambia’s electoral landscape,” according to one of The Gambia’s leading newspapers, The Point, which also reported that Bensouda delivered “a passionate call to action, citing the country’s deep-rooted socio-economic challenges and the urgent need for transformative leadership.”
Two days later, Bensouda officially launched the movement, during which he said that The Gambia is amongst the 10 poorest African countries.
Claim: Speaking to his supporters at the Ebunjan Theatre on Saturday, 4th October 2025, Mayor Bensouda said that “Gambia ranks as one of twenty poorest countries in the world. In the poorest continent in the world, The Gambia ranks amongst the ten poorest countries in Africa. Out of 195 countries, Gambia is the 170th worst as far as the human development index is concerned.”
The short video of his statement posted on Facebook racked up over 2,100 reactions, 92 comments, and 55 shares. With over 44 thousand views, this is by far his most watched video on his page.
Fact-Check: To verify the Mayor’s claims, our reporter downloaded data on the Human Development Index (HDI) to ascertain The Gambia’s ranking. The HDI is an annual ranking published by the United Nations that measures a country’s development based on three key dimensions: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living.
According to the latest ranking published on 6th May 2025, Africa’s smallest mainland country ranks 170th out of 193 countries globally. Over the last five years, from 2019 to 2022, The Gambia’s ranking remained relatively constant at 175 and 174. In 2023, the country improved by 4 places to occupy the 170th position, better than DR Congo and worse than its neighbour, Senegal.
The Gambia’s HDI ranking from 2019 to 2023 © Askanwi
Is The Gambia Amongst the 20 Poorest Globally and 10 Poorest in Africa?
Turning our attention to the claim that “The Gambia ranks as one of twenty poorest countries in the world [and] amongst the ten poorest countries in Africa,” our researcher verified this using an article by Global Finance titled “Poorest Countries in the World 2025” published on 11th September 2025 and the World Population Review’s ranking, which makes use of World Bank 2024 data.
According to Global Finance, which is published in 158 countries with over 50,000 subscribers, “GDP per capita is often considered the standard metric” of a country’s wealth. GDP stands for gross domestic product and measures the total monetary value of all final goods and services produced within a country’s borders over a specific period.
Taking this concept further, Global Finances compensates “for differences in living costs and rates of inflation by using purchasing power parity (PPP),” which they argue “can better assess an individual’s buying power in any given country.”
According to Global Finance, The Gambia is ranked the 23rd poorest country, with a GDP-PPP per capita of $3,687.67. Regionally, The Gambia is ranked the 19th poorest country in Africa.
To further validate our findings, our reporter downloaded data from the World Population Review, which ranks the poorest countries according to GDP per capita using World Bank 2024 statistics. According to the World Bank, The Gambia is ranked the 16th poorest country in the world and the 14th poorest in Africa.
According to World Population Review, “Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita measures a country’s GDP divided by its total population. The GDP per capita PPP is obtained by dividing the country’s gross domestic product, adjusted by purchasing power parity, by the total population.”
Conclusion:
Claim 1: “Out of 195 countries, Gambia is the 170th worst as far as the human development index is concerned.” According to the 2023 HDI Ranking published in May 2025, The Gambia is ranked 170 out of 193 countries, not 195 countries. This makes the claim partly true.
Claim 2: “Gambia ranks as one of the twenty poorest countries in the world.” According to Global Finance, The Gambia ranks as the 23rd poorest country globally, but the World Population Review places The Gambia as the 16th poorest country globally. Due to conflicting data, this claim cannot be verified.
Claim 3: “The Gambia ranks amongst the ten poorest countries in Africa.” According to Global Finance, The Gambia ranks as the 19th poorest country in Africa, and the World Population Review places The Gambia as the 14th poorest country in Africa. With both sources corroborating that The Gambia is ranked the 19th and 14th poorest country in Africa (outside the top 10), the Mayor’s claim is considered inaccurate.
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/2025/11/25/fact-check-is-the-gambia-amongst-10-poorest-countries-in-africa/
