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Momodou
Denmark
11823 Posts |
 Posted - 14 Mar 2026 : 01:13:43
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MINISTER KEITA’S DECEPTION ON DEBT: A CLOSE LOOK
By Dr. Ousman Gagigo
Minister of Finance Seedy Keita recently sought to reassure the public that the country's growing debt burden is justified - the result, he argued, of strategic investments in productive sectors. The electricity sector was cited as a prime example. It is, in fact, a perfect example - just not in the way he intended. It is a case study in how a government can spend enormous sums of money in a sector while delivering almost nothing of lasting value.
1. SPENDING IS NOT INVESTING
There is a fundamental distinction between expenditure and investment. Investment produces returns - lower costs, greater capacity, improved efficiency. Expenditure without strategic purpose simply transfers money from the public purse to someone else's pocket. To conflate the two, as Minister Keita does, is either a misunderstanding of basic economics or a deliberate attempt to mislead.
The Barrow administration has been visibly active in the electricity sector, extending the distribution network to connect new rural households to the national grid. On the surface, this appears commendable. But connecting more homes to a grid that cannot adequately power the homes already on it is not progress - it is the expansion of a problem.
2. A GENERATION CRISIS BEING IGNORED
The uncomfortable truth is that domestic electricity generation in The Gambia has not increased under this administration - it has declined. The country is currently importing between 50 and 80 megawatts of electricity simply to meet the demand of households already connected to the grid. Expanding distribution while ignoring this generation deficit is not investment; it is institutional negligence dressed up as development.
The consequences are predictable and severe. NAWEC chronically operates at a loss. Unable to cover its costs, it depends on government bailouts funded by borrowed money. Every additional household connected to the grid without a corresponding increase in generation capacity deepens this structural deficit and adds to the national debt.
3. THE $200 MILLION QUESTION
The most damning indictment of this administration's management of the energy sector is its seven-year contract with the Turkish firm Karpowership. From 2017 onwards, the government paid over $200 million to this company for the supply of a mere 30 megawatts of electricity. The amount of electricity is a fraction of what the country needs at an amount far out of proportion to the value.
That same $200 million could have financed the construction of a 200-megawatt power plant - enough capacity to supply the entire nation. Such a plant would have been a genuine productive investment: a permanent national asset generating electricity at significantly lower cost, reducing NAWEC's operating losses, lowering end-user tariffs, and eliminating the need for expensive imported power.
Instead, the money was paid to a foreign company for temporary power from a floating vessel. When the contract ended, the country had nothing to show for it - no infrastructure, no capacity, no progress. The debt remained; the darkness returned.
4. A VICIOUS CYCLE OF DEPENDENCY
The structural damage extends beyond NAWEC's balance sheet. By continuing to import electricity, the country adds to an already widening trade deficit. This places sustained depreciation pressure on the dalasi. As the dalasi weakens, the cost of the fuel oil and diesel required for local generation rises, further squeezing NAWEC's margins. Losses grow. More loans are taken. The cycle continues.
This is not an unfortunate side effect of ambitious development - it is the entirely foreseeable outcome of choosing short-term contracts over long-term infrastructure. The debt being incurred is not the price of progress. It is the price of failure.
5. INCOMPETENCE HAS A COST
Minister Keita would have the public believe that borrowing for the electricity sector is an investment in the nation's future. The evidence tells a different story. The billions of dalasi in debt accumulated in this sector were avoidable. They are the direct consequence of a government that chose to rent power rather than build capacity, that expanded distribution without addressing generation, and that allowed a foreign company to extract over $200 million from the national treasury with nothing lasting in return.
When public officials mistake activity for achievement and expenditure for investment, the public pays the price - in higher electricity bills, a weaker currency, and a debt burden that will constrain public finances for years to come.
Minister Keita's claims are not merely questionable. They are contradicted by the very sector he chose to defend them with.
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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MINISTER KEITA’S DECEPTION ON DEBT: A CLOSE LOOK
