The
State Opening address by the President on Monday 24 July 2017 has given some
hope that there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
Many
good things have been said as regards building the economy and the
socio-political milieu of this country.
For
instance, high hopes have been placed on the new trade deal between our nation
and that of the People’s Republic of China.
Indeed
a duty-free trade between the Gambia and China will be highly beneficial to The
Gambia, who will be exposed to the huge market opportunities of our Chinese
friends. This is more so that the duty free on goods is only applicable to
products from The Gambia, as Chinese products will attract duty and tariff
payments in entering Gambian market.
Although
it still remains to be seen how the benefits are going to be watered down onto the soil of our economy and the lives of
the people, the deal will also remove the need
for costly trans-shipment of our exports to China through a third party.
Growth
in our exports and the financial, economic and foreign exchange benefits that
came with it, will surely add value to our economy and contribute to pushing
our national development.
While
the Barrow regime has labeled itself as an action-oriented government, it has
also done well to highlight or recognize its challenges, which we think are
also real concerns to satisfying the soul of our economic success dream and the
spirit of true democracy and good governance.
“Our
immediate priority,” as also succinctly outlined by the President, “is to fix
the continuous energy problem as well as the broken economy, unify the nation,
improve health and agricultural sub-sectors, end the country’s isolation and
introduce robust institutional, electoral and constitutional reforms in line with
our new democratic principles that will respond to the realities of our
time.…This has to be done in tandem with reforms in the Civil Service and
security sector as well as State Owned Enterprises.”
This
is good, and while we are not doubting the intention of the present regime in
tackling the outlined challenges and other unforeseen ones, we believe solving
them will serve as a litmus test for the government’s ability to face up to the
challenge of nation building.
We
may wish to do well in nation building but it is the mechanisms that we have in
place that determine whether we will succeed in achieving our aims and
objectives.
“There’s
a place for talking and criticism. But there’s also a place to let our actions
do the talking!” said Fela Durotoye, an author of several books on national
development.
So
we hope the Barrow government would rise to the challenge of transforming the
economy and getting its developmental reforms in place.
It
is essential to note that translating our words into action is the sure way to
realizing our good plans and objectives.
“Strength
and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. ”
Napoleon
Hill
