ADB holds workshop on country portfolio

A two-day workshop on International Development Association and African Development Bank Group country portfolio performance review and joint assistance strategy took place recently at the Ocean Bay Hotel in Bakau.

The workshop was attended by senior government officials from the Ministry of Finance as well as the World Bank country representative.

In his opening speech, Hon. Mambury Njie, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, said the AFDB, WB, GOTG 2011 country portfolio performance review (CPPR) is an important exercise, as it provides forum for review of the implementation progress of government projects and programmes financed by the African Development Bank (ADB) Group and the World Bank.

The outcome of the CPPR will serve the purpose for the ongoing pipeline projects, to adopt good project management strategies and overcome obstacles, he said.

Minister Njie says that the government of The Gambia attaches great significance to the CPPR since it has influence on the allocation of resource enveloped to the country.

Highlighting the ADB Portfolio, the Finance Minister added: "The on-going portfolio under examination, including multinational operations, consists of nine projects, with a total commitment of UA 40.1 million and a disbursed amount of AU 22.4 million 45.9 percent, as of March 2011."

He added: "By sectoral distribution, seven 7 projects are in the agriculture sector constituting 76.6 per cent of the total commitment whilst the social and multi-sector each has a project with commitment representing 20 percent and 3.4 percent respectively."

Minister Njie mentioned that the effort of the Bank towards the attainment of the development objectives of the Government of The Gambia, especially in the agriculture sector, is commendable.

The ADB portfolio for The Gambia, he noted, was rated high in recent years with a score of 2.01 out of 3 in 2006 and 2.55 out 3 in 2009.

"Although this is a sign of achievement, but the Government of The Gambia is showing no complacency and will endeavour to achieve the best results at all times," he said.

To this effect, the minister noted, government will continue o provide the enabling environment supportive of smooth projects and programmes implementation in The Gambia.