D2 Billion National Food Security Corporation Proposed by Parliamentarian

By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT

The National Food Security Corporation Bill 2025 is currently facing parliamentary review and was tabled in Parliament for consideration on 3rd March 2026. The bill proposes the establishment of the National Food Security Corporation, commencing with a value of D1 billion, which was doubled after a member’s recommendation.

Clause 5, subsection 1 of the Bill legislates that “the Corporation shall be owned by the Government of The Gambia and shall operate as a state-owned enterprise.”

Meanwhile, Clause 5, subsection 2 of the Bill mandates that “the Government may, where it considers fit, allocate part of the shares of the Corporation to other stakeholders, and the allocation shall not exceed thirty percent of the overall shares of the Corporation.”

Clause 5, subsection 3 of the bill initially mandated that “the shares of the Corporation shall be two million at the value of five hundred dalasi per share.”

However, nominated member Hon. Kebba Lang Fofana recommended the increase of the Corporation’s value from D1 billion to D2 billion. In his argument he revealed that he “tried to look at how much was needed for the recapitalisation of the GGC,” which he claims “was around the tune of D1.8 billion”.

This informed his proposal of 2 million shares at a cost of D1,000 per share, totalling D2 billion. This was agreed upon by the Minister for Agriculture and his technical team. Although Hon Lamin Ceesay questioned the rationale, his queries were squashed by Chair Seedy Njie.

This paved the way for Hon. Fofana’s proposal to be included in the bill.

The Gambia is yet to completely establish and operationalise its stock market exchange; however, it is anticipated that the stock market should commence in the near future, where shares can be bought and sold.

The bill further limits the minimum number of shares any entity can purchase to 100 shares.

Clause 5 subsection 4 of the Bill legislates that “shares shall be allocated in lots of hundred shares.” If each share costs D1,000, then 100 shares will come up to D10,000. Meaning that any entity wishing to purchase shares shall pay a minimum of D10,000 for 100 shares.