By Nelson Manneh
New roads, expanded electricity networks and modern public facilities are changing parts of The Gambia, but residents in some rural communities say the projects have yet to address their most urgent needs: food, farming support, affordable living costs and reliable sources of income.
For farmers in Kiang Sankandi and Ballen, the construction of roads has improved connections between communities. Yet many say better transport links alone cannot put food on their tables or provide the resources they need to earn a living throughout the year.
“Development starts from the stomach,” said Musa Badjie, a farmer from Ballen Village in the Foni Kansala District.
“You can only measure development when you are fed. These newly constructed roads do not bridge the gap between development and hunger. They don’t solve our immediate problems; our main challenge is simply putting food on the table. This government should have prioritised agriculture over road construction.”
His concerns reflect a wider debate over the country’s development priorities as President Adama Barrow’s administration continues to invest in roads, electricity, water supply, healthcare facilities and other public infrastructure.
Since 2022, the government has pursued an ambitious infrastructure programme, supported by domestic revenue and international partnerships. The projects are intended to improve connectivity, expand access to essential services and support economic activity across the country.
But residents say the benefits of these investments will remain limited unless they are accompanied by stronger support for agriculture, small businesses and local livelihoods.
In Kiang Sankandi, resident Aminata Dibba said new roads had transformed the area by improving connections between communities. She welcomed investments in water and electricity but said important challenges remained unresolved.
“We welcome these projects, especially when it comes to water and electricity, but our main challenges are yet to be solved,” she said.
Dibba said many farming households struggled to meet their daily needs and required gardens, fertiliser and other agricultural supplies to sustain production throughout the year.
She argued that infrastructure projects should be closely linked to the needs of the people who depend on them.
She said she would have preferred the government to do more to strengthen agricultural activities rather than concentrate on road construction.
“The cost of living is very expensive; prices of basic commodities keep escalating on a daily basis,” she said.
For Badjie, the problem in Ballen goes beyond the condition of roads. He said the community had long faced neglect and lacked a community garden that could provide food and income during the dry season.
“The small gardens we managed to build within the community were completely destroyed during the Senegalese military raids,” he said.
“Since then, we have had no gardens at all. The government is fully aware of our situation because officials have visited this area several times.”
Badjie said restoring agricultural activities would help residents rebuild their livelihoods and reduce their dependence on irregular sources of income.
The concerns extend beyond farming communities. In Tanji, fish vendor Haddy Cham acknowledged the government’s efforts to improve roads but said better transport links had not removed the economic pressures facing ordinary people.
“The cost of living is very expensive in The Gambia. Having roads alone does not solve the problem; we need more than roads,” she said.
Cham also raised concerns about the growing presence of foreign operators in the fishing sector, saying Gambians risked losing opportunities in an industry that supports many households.
“I have observed that foreigners are now occupying the highest percentage of our fishing sector,” she said.
She argued that the situation was not simply a result of young Gambians refusing to work as fishermen, but also reflected what she described as a failure by those responsible for managing the sector to fulfil their duties.
Cham urged the government to take stronger measures to protect the country’s aquatic resources and safeguard the livelihoods of people who depend on fishing and fish trading.
Her concerns highlight the challenges facing women who operate small businesses in coastal communities, where income depends on access to fish, suitable working conditions and the ability to compete in the market.
The government has undertaken several major infrastructure projects since 2022, with road construction among its most visible priorities.
In the Greater Banjul Area, the widening of the Bertil Harding Highway and the construction of the Sukuta overpass are intended to improve traffic movement along one of the country’s key transport corridors.
The 50km OIC urban roads programme has also targeted roads and intersections in areas including Sukuta, Nemasu, Kololi, Bijilo and Brufut, with the aim of improving connections and easing congestion.
Outside the urban centres, the Connect Gambia Infrastructure Project, covering Phases One and Two, has focused on expanding the rural road network. The programme targets more than 1,500km of roads, including the 84.5km Niumi-Hakalang Road and the 90km Kiang-Kabada road project.
The roads are intended to connect rural settlements with markets, health facilities and other essential services, helping farmers and traders move goods and reach customers more easily.
The administration has also pursued electricity expansion, with more than 1,100 villages reported to have been connected to the national grid and plans to extend coverage to the remaining off-grid communities.
Other projects include water supply improvements, new health facilities and public administrative buildings. These form part of the government’s wider effort to extend public services beyond the country’s main urban centres.
Yet the experiences described by residents in Kiang Sankandi, Ballen and Tanji raise questions about how infrastructure investment can translate into higher household incomes, stronger food security and more opportunities for local businesses.
National Assembly Member for Upper Saloum, Alagie Mbowe, said the country’s ability to sustain infrastructure spending must be considered alongside its revenue and debt obligations.
He said domestic revenue, including tax and non-tax income, was one of the measures used to assess the government’s capacity to finance development.
Mbowe explained that foreign debt could continue to rise in dalasi terms even when the government exercised restraint in borrowing, because the loans were contracted in foreign currencies and repayments had to be made in those currencies.
He said the dalasi’s limited acceptance outside The Gambia and its weakness against major international currencies added to the pressure.
According to Mbowe, a negative balance of payments, in which imports exceed exports, can place further pressure on the local currency and increase the domestic cost of servicing foreign debt.
He said the government needed to increase domestic revenue and limit additional borrowing to reduce the pressure of debt repayments.
“Where possible domestic debt is preferred to foreign debt because domestic debts are paid in the local currency,” he said.
He added that domestic borrowing should not absorb so much money that private businesses were left struggling to secure financing.
“The fundamental goal is to increase domestic revenue and this seems to be on track for the past few years,” he said.
Where new borrowing was necessary, Mbowe said, the government should seek concessional loans carrying very low interest rates.
His comments point to a central challenge facing the country’s infrastructure programme: how to finance major public investments while managing debt and ensuring that the resulting economic benefits reach households and businesses.
Mbowe also highlighted human capital development as an important part of the country’s long-term development needs.
He said African countries, including The Gambia, had often faced difficulties developing the skilled workforce needed to support economic growth. Some countries had sent students abroad because their universities lacked particular courses or the facilities needed to provide specialist training.
Whether that approach was appropriate, he said, depended on each country’s wider human capital development strategy.
“It seems it is the chicken and the egg situation — which one comes first,” he said.
Mbowe noted that the University of The Gambia was established through an Act of Parliament and began graduating students in the early 2000s. In 2025, the university had a campus at Faraba, where several schools had been developed.
He said the government had also invested in educational facilities, including the University of The Gambia at Faraba and the University of Science, Engineering and Technology in Brikama, while upgrading other institutions.
These investments, he said, were intended to help close gaps in the country’s supply of skilled workers.
“The University of The Gambia is just over two decades old and was established through an Act of parliament and its first graduation was around 2002,” he said.
“In 2025, they have a place they can call home in Faraba with various schools built within the facility.”
He added that graduates from The Gambia before the establishment of the university had obtained their degrees from foreign universities.
Mbowe said many of the educational investments were supported by grants and loans, alongside efforts to raise revenue domestically.
He cited an increase in domestic revenue from about D8.2bn in 2016 to an estimated D32bn in 2026.
He also said The Gambia did not have a general local content law, although the Gambia Information and Communication Technology Agency Act of 2019 contained provisions intended to support local ICT companies in government projects.
Under the provisions he described, companies must be registered in The Gambia and have at least 70% Gambian ownership to qualify as local ICT companies.
Mbowe also addressed concerns about fluctuations in electricity supply, particularly in the Greater Banjul Area, saying the causes differed between urban and rural communities.
He linked some of the pressure on electricity generation to disruptions in global fuel supplies amid conflict involving the United States, Iran and Israel in the Gulf region.
He said disruptions to fuel transportation had contributed to higher prices in many parts of the world, affecting countries that depend on fuel for electricity generation.
The Gambia, he said, was not exempt from those pressures.
Mbowe said the government was investing in a 50-megawatt renewable energy plant, with procurement at an advanced stage, according to information available to him.
He also referred to President Barrow’s announcement of plans to procure additional generators for the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC).
Mbowe said the renewable energy project, additional generating capacity and the Dangote refinery in Nigeria could help improve electricity stability and fuel supply in the sub-region in the coming months.
His comments underline the importance of reliable electricity to households and businesses, including farmers, traders and fish vendors whose daily activities depend on consistent power and affordable operating costs.
For residents interviewed in rural communities and coastal settlements, the debate is not about whether roads and other infrastructure are needed. Their concerns centre on whether the benefits of those investments are reaching the people who need them most.
Dibba wants stronger support for farmers struggling to produce enough food and cope with rising prices. Badjie said Ballen needs its lost gardens restored and its agricultural base rebuilt. Cham wants better protection for Gambian livelihoods in the fishing industry. Their accounts place household survival at the centre of a wider discussion about the country’s development priorities.
As The Gambia continues to invest in roads, electricity, water and public facilities, residents say access to farming inputs, productive land, affordable goods and viable business opportunities remains essential to making development meaningful in their daily lives.