Presenting its 2021 Activity and Financial reports before deputies on Thursday 8 February 2024, Saloum Malang, the managing director of SSHFC, highlighted that despite the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, “it’s with great satisfaction that the Corporation reports” recorded a scale up in members funds.
He added that the Corporation’s performance in 2021 demonstrated remarkable resilience. “It is our steadfast belief that a potent combination of robust investment growth strategies and diligent cost management practices will continue to serve as the bedrock for driving superior performance in the future,” he affirmed.
He revealed that with support from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, the Corporation was able to establish a new payment arrangement for the recovery of the D1.8 billion Non-Performance State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and Gambia Government Loans Portfolio.
“These were issued between 2006 and 2016, following several executive directives which instructed SSHFC to issue over 25 loans to several SOEs and the Government totaling D1.8 billion,” SSHFC MD stated.
“During the year under review, these loans remained outstanding except for the D163.5 million paid so far. The available funds for investment could have been much higher if not for the cumulative outstanding loans of D1.6 billion.”
He also disclosed that the Federated Pension Scheme (FPS) investment portfolio had increased by 14.4% from D1.71 billion in 2020 to D1.95 billion in 2021 due to increased investment in Bank Term Deposits and Treasury Bills.
He further disclosed that the National Provident Fund (NPF) investment portfolio had also increased by 9.8% – from D3.12 billion in 2020 to D3.44 billion in 2021 mainly due to an increased Bank Term Deposit.
MD Manjang highlighted that the Housing Finance Fund (HFF) investment portfolio had decreased by 0.5%; from D269.92 million in 2020 to D268.701 million in 2021 due to the disposal of an investment property, even though bank term deposits increased by D12.5 million.
However, he noted that the Corporation is challenged with delay in contribution payments and the submission of complete schedules. “Lack of readily available allocated land by the government for the housing projects in the Greater Banjul Area among others is also our challenge,” he told deputies.
The Public Enterprise Committee subsequently adopted the 2021 Activity and Financial statement of SSHFC with amendments.
