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Gambia News : World Bank Supports Gambia with US$ 55.9 Million

The Republic of the Gambia/World Bank Joint 2008 country portfolio performance review has five active projects in the portfolio, with a total commitment of US$ 55.9 million, of which about half is undisbursed, states the World Bank Country Director, Mr. Madani Tall at a workshop held Thursday at Corinthia Atlantic Hotel. Mr. Tall also said that in order to ensure a high disbursement rate, it is important to pay attention to certain cross-cutting issues such as procurement, financial management, monitoring and evaluation.

He noted that there is need to have and retain the relevant capacity necessary for successful project implementation and that this calls for the strengthening of national systems in conjunction with a rigorous civil service reform; that the review will provide them with the opportunity to assess progress in project implementation over the last twelve months and also discuss ways of addressing the main constraints that have been identified. Mr. Tall said that the workshop will outline the achievements, challenges and map out possible solutions in order to ensure greater development impact and aid effectiveness.

“Deliberations will be made on procurement reform base on recommendations in the country procurement implementation plan and this will allow for an in-depth exchange of views on these issues, given that there is a proposal to increase the different levels of prior review thresholds, within a context of greater national autonomy and accountability” said Mr. Tall.

The World Bank Country Director said the portfolio review is taking place in the framework of the newly-approved Joint Assistance Strategy (JAS) prepared by the African Development Bank and the World Bank. He added that the strategy underscores the need for effective aid coordination under strong government leadership. Mr. Tall noted that this in line with the plan’s declaration on Aid Effectiveness with particular focus on common procedures and joint missions. He added that the strategy also calls for joint accountability in achieving results and supporting the government’s development objectives of growth and poverty reduction.

In his statement, the Secretary of State for Finance and Economic Affairs, Mr. Gibril Bala Gaye, said the country portfolio performance review (CPPR) is an important evaluation and monitoring exercise. SOS Gaye said the review creates a forum, where both the Gambia government and the World Bank review the implementation progress of projects and highlight the major shortcomings, and discuss and agree on the proposed solutions to achieve the approved projects and program objectives.

He added that the Would Bank’s collaboration with the Gambia has now lasted for decades and spanned across all major sectors of the economy including agriculture, health, education, infrastructure and rural decentralization. SoS for Finance said the World Bank continues to support the Gambia’s development initiatives in the key sectors of the economy with a portfolio size of about US$ 55.9 million to be executed over the next 3-5 years . SOS Gaye noted the World Bank also supports the Gambia in it’s strives in resource mobilization and has now given debt relief to The Gambia.

Mr. Gaye further said that this is the first time in our many rounds of CPPR that none of the World Bank projects in The Gambia has an unsatisfactory rating, which is a vast improvement in project implementation, different from the late 1990s and early 2000s, where only one third of projects were rated satisfactory.