By Mariatou Ngum
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment (MoTIE) has stated that climate change poses a significant threat to our planet and has far-reaching consequences for trade and economic stability.
Mr Lamin Dampha was recently speaking at the opening ceremony of a day’s validation workshop of ‘The Green Industrialisation through Special Economic Zones and Agropoles (GIEZA)’ Project held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre.
He said sustainable development and climate action are inextricably linked, and that addressing climate change requires innovative financing solutions. Hence, he noted that trade financing plays a crucial role in this context, as it enables the flow of goods and services necessary for climate resilience and mitigation.
PS Dampha informed that MOTIE in partnership with the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) has been working towards the development of a trade and climate change financing project proposal to support rapid industrialisation in The Gambia. The proposed project is to support The Gambia establish Sustainable Economic/Industrial Zones (SEZs) along the Senegambia Bridge and three agro poles in selected strategic agriculture growing centers in West Coast Region, Central River Region and Upper River Region.
“The selection and design of these industrial facilities would be based on key green and environmentally sensitive productive systems and market potentials of the Region,” he stated
The PS therefore warned that The Gambia faces significant challenges in achieving its sustainable development goals, particularly those goals relating to targets on trade, employment, and manufacturing. He said it was in recognition of these challenges that MoTIE, through support from the EIF, developed this project proposal.
He also warned that increase in urbanisation of the population dominated by over 60% of youth, poses serious challenges. This, he said, demands the need to create employment opportunities. “In these circumstances, such opportunities can best be created by the manufacturing and services sectors and thus the need for special economic zones to attract private sector investments in these sectors. The main goal of the project is to transform the Gambian economy from a highly primary commodity-dependent and low-cost tourism to a semi-manufacturing and processing as well as services-oriented economy in the medium to long term,” the Trade PS stated.
He underscored Government’s commitment to consolidating its strong ambition in climate change mitigation by integrating the identified mitigation measures into national planning processes.
He referenced the recently validated 2050 Climate Vision of The Gambia and the new Green Recovery Focused National Development Plan 2023-2027, saying they underscore high-level commitment to de-carbonisation, strengthening resilience, and mitigating the impact of climate change, to attain The Gambia’s targets in the Sustainable Development Goal, as well as objectives of the National Trade Policy (2018 – 2022), the National Industrial Policy and Trade Strategy aimed at contributing to the national economic transformation agenda of the government.
According to him, this project is aligned with Government’s private sector and agricultural development programmes in the new National Development Plan and is part of the activities to implement the AfCFTA National Implementation Strategy by repositioning The Gambia to fully integrate into the regional and continental markets through agricultural and industrial transformation.
