“Jah Oil was the most qualified and competent among the applicants to get the loan. The money was not meant to be distributed. The money was to be given to institutions that would be repaid. In fact, it should be noted that the money was supposed to be paid at an interest rate of 3% and that the money was going to be paid in dollars. Whoever, who was going to be given the money, will have to pay back the money in six months,” he clarified.
Minister Joof made these remarks yesterday while responding to questions from journalists at a press conference organised by the Ministry of Information.
The Ministry of Trade, he said, does not control loans. “The ministry didn’t give any private sector player any money to import commodities in the country. That had never happened since I was appointed as the minister of Trade. I can’t imagine that happening because that is not our mandate. We don’t give institutions money to invest in buying commodities,” he postulated.
“What we do as a ministry is to support them in order to access the port and also to help them access foreign currencies at the Central Bank and also to link them to banks. This is the kind of support the Ministry gives.”
“We recommended that commodities trading are a challenge in this country. We ask the Ministry of Finance to approach them (BADEA) with a view to facilitate access to finance for our business communities especially those that are involved in commodities trading.”
“Therefore, it is through this engagement that the Ministry of Finance engaged BADEA about the 50 million U.S. dollar loan. However, it is incorrect to suggest that The Gambia government gave the loan to Jah Oil. We recommended it to the Ministry of Finance and they negotiated about the loan on behalf of the business communities.”
He maintained the money came with five to six different conditions. “This is not Gambia government’s money but BADEA money.”
“It also has to be clear that it was BADEA who was giving the loan and they were the people dictating the tune. This money was not a loan to the government but the private sector. Again, it was a question of who qualified and got it. It was not a grant to the government, but the government only facilitated it because the government is a member of BADEA.”
All the business community and the importers and those that were interested in the money, he went on, were invited. “BADEA also came out with the condition that you must provide adequate collateral to guarantee that the 50 million dollar was not going to be lost.”
“All the business communities that came we told the same information that Jah Oil was told. However, majority of the business community said they couldn’t meet the conditions of BADEA. Jah Oil said he is interested and that he was going to use the money.”
“Jah Oil was not favored among others. However, they were the eligible institution that utilised the money and paid the money based on the collateral,” he emphasised.
Commenting on the prices of basic commodities, Minister Joof claimed that prices are not skyrocketing.
“We can’t monitor what is happening at individual shops. We collect data on the average retails and wholesale prices. We don’t have the capacity to give you prices per shop, but I can tell you that prices are not skyrocketing of late.”
“Prices of commodities have been stable. However, American rice has gained 2.4% in the last weeks, which is from the 2nd to the 8th of March. But hopefully, we will be able to maintain it at that level for sometime.”
Potatoes and onions, he went on, which are currently produced locally and are available in the market, have ensured that the prices of these commodities drop by 50%.
“Onions have gone from 1000 dalasis at the beginning of Ramadan to 700 dalasis today at the market which is positive,” he said, claiming that the fundamental reason why the prices have dropped is because the local produce has entered the markets.
