Yahya Jammeh was not the institution of Government but a wicked process driver that orchestrated a viscious system that dehumanised the citizens of this beautiful nation but the blame can't be squarely piled on him. The collective responsibility must be shouldered by all that one way or another had a role in the administration and execution of public functions in some of our deplorable correctional facilities such as Mile 2 Central Prison. Gambians collectively enabled the despot to usurp our rights. The inaction of many amongst our midst brought us to this unfortunate crossroads that spelt our longest nightmare that lasted for 23 years.
Fixing this archaic nightmare comes with complexities and sensitivities that needs thorough apportionment of blame and responsibility whilst shifting away the nuances and distortions. No short cut to national reconciliation. The veil of national security must be lifted without reservation as none of the atrocities committed were done in the interest of the state. The likes of #YankubaBadjie and his henchmen must be brought to book without compassion or mercy for they have transgressed against a peace loving people. Mile 2 Prison is a shame to our collective conscience and I urge the authorities Ba Tambadou Mai Ahmad Fatty #PresidentBarrow that those gates of hell must be opened and set the captive free. The prisoners in those dungeons of hell have suffered enough to let them walk away to preserve their dignity. Shame on #OusmanSonko #DavidColley and all that ran those heinous dungeons that are not fit for human habitation.
The Mile 2 prison must be preserved in its current state for future generations to see how a zealous, callous and morally irreprehensible derelict like the #ButcherOfKanilai abrogated the rights of people who elected him in office. Yahya Jammeh may you rot in hell for you have no place in modern Gambia and may your ilk be tried for their callous atrocities against the people of the Gambia. I am now convinced that this maggot of a human being called Dictator Jammeh was a deprived and traumatised child hence his indifference and ingratitude to the beautiful people of this country. My sincere apologies on behalf of all peace loving Gambians to all who were legally or illegally incarcerated in those hell holes for no human being must be treated with scorn. Prison under normal circumstances must be a correctional facility not a place to dehumanised our brothers and sisters. The prison was within our proximity but it was world's away from us. Today is a sad day and the government of the day must commence proceedings to demand for the arrest and prosecution of the maggot who robbed our collective conscience and innocence.
#JammehMustBeProsecuted
#JusticeForVictims
#Gambia
Tuesday, 14 February 2017
Saturday, 11 February 2017
National Debt Can Be An Inhibitor To Growth and Prosperity
Domestic debt (government borrowing) has been a perennial problem for our fiscal authorities. This is as a result of government's reckless and insatiable appetite to spend over and beyond its means. This malaise has a negative effect on the economy as it serves as an opportunity cost to the growth prospects of the economy. Our Debt/GDP Ratio is relatively unsustainable and fiscal receipts that are meant for expenditures in priority areas such as health and education suffers at the expense of drawing down the debt and accrued interest charges.
That said, the government of the Gambia has to revisit our 2017 budget with a view of curbing down undue and excessive expenditure that bloats the bureaucracy or stifled the tax payer. The #NewGAMBIA will be endowed with external budgetary support from multilaterals to augment our ailing economy but this external intervention by donors must be complimented by sound macroeconomic initiatives to kick start our economy. Simplifying our tax administration and rationalisation of our tax cade is paramount to such an initiative. A purely tax based economy is counter productive to economic growth as heavy taxation impedes private sector reinvestment in the economy.
The current Gambia Revenue Authority model needs an overhaul as a police cannot police itself. This implies that Inland Revenue (Income Tax) and Customs & Excise cannot be at the apex of a functioning revenue authority. This is a clear conflict of interest as enforcers can't be administrators of the very function they need to enforce. It is therefore incumbent on the Ministry of Finance to set up a lean and responsive Revenue Authority headed by business minded people with indepth knowledge on regional economic intelligence, global commercial trends and port management systems. Furthermore, the cost of collecting taxes must be rationalised by using artificial intelligence that will streamline processes and reduce human interaction in the compliance chain.
Finally drawing down the debt stock is of paramount importance to the macroeconomic environment as it helps reduce overall interest rates at the banks, reduce the eventuality of crowding out and also tame inflationary pressures as it compliments monetary policy of the Central Bank. I therefore suggest that government of the day must employ a two prong approach to resolving this menace of borrowing. First, government must institute via legislation firm debt ceilings that will curb the appetite of the exchequer from spending over and beyond our resource envelope. Secondly, the government of the day must also audit the telecommunication companies as it relates to their reporting and accounting practices especially the ones with offshore parent companies that periodically pay management fees to their parent companies. I am of the view that such an excercise can yeild millions of dollars in back taxes and penalties that will directly fund the reduction of our debt stock. Debt is an impediment to growth and this beast must be curtailed inorder to give our economy a clean bill of health for sustainable prosperity and development.
That said, the government of the Gambia has to revisit our 2017 budget with a view of curbing down undue and excessive expenditure that bloats the bureaucracy or stifled the tax payer. The #NewGAMBIA will be endowed with external budgetary support from multilaterals to augment our ailing economy but this external intervention by donors must be complimented by sound macroeconomic initiatives to kick start our economy. Simplifying our tax administration and rationalisation of our tax cade is paramount to such an initiative. A purely tax based economy is counter productive to economic growth as heavy taxation impedes private sector reinvestment in the economy.
The current Gambia Revenue Authority model needs an overhaul as a police cannot police itself. This implies that Inland Revenue (Income Tax) and Customs & Excise cannot be at the apex of a functioning revenue authority. This is a clear conflict of interest as enforcers can't be administrators of the very function they need to enforce. It is therefore incumbent on the Ministry of Finance to set up a lean and responsive Revenue Authority headed by business minded people with indepth knowledge on regional economic intelligence, global commercial trends and port management systems. Furthermore, the cost of collecting taxes must be rationalised by using artificial intelligence that will streamline processes and reduce human interaction in the compliance chain.
Finally drawing down the debt stock is of paramount importance to the macroeconomic environment as it helps reduce overall interest rates at the banks, reduce the eventuality of crowding out and also tame inflationary pressures as it compliments monetary policy of the Central Bank. I therefore suggest that government of the day must employ a two prong approach to resolving this menace of borrowing. First, government must institute via legislation firm debt ceilings that will curb the appetite of the exchequer from spending over and beyond our resource envelope. Secondly, the government of the day must also audit the telecommunication companies as it relates to their reporting and accounting practices especially the ones with offshore parent companies that periodically pay management fees to their parent companies. I am of the view that such an excercise can yeild millions of dollars in back taxes and penalties that will directly fund the reduction of our debt stock. Debt is an impediment to growth and this beast must be curtailed inorder to give our economy a clean bill of health for sustainable prosperity and development.
Thursday, 9 February 2017
Destruction of Value in Gambia Telecommunication Sector
Telecommunication is a vital component of national development and it must be harnessed in a way that its incremental dividends will filter through all sectors of the economy in the best interest of the population and government including the investors in the sector.
Having said this, The Gambia has been a country that was priced out of the market as it relates to international calling rates inbound to destination #GM220 for quite some time and this created a grey market that allowed non vested parties (companies and individuals who are nt domiciled or registered in The Gambia) to illegally tap into our market thereby depriving companies of revenue and consequently government of much needed taxes. The exit of Jammeh from The Gambia has exacerbated this point as there seem to be chaos in the market at the moment. Operators may not officially have a license to operate private gateways but they can illegally operate grey sim boxes that will illegally terminate inbound International traffic without undue interference from anybody. This has become a sad state of affairs as destination Gambia has collapsed in the international market and prices are spiraling downward at an alarming rate thereby creating a free for all market. This will eventually destroy commercial value and and a loose loose situation for government and vested investors in the sector. Regulating a virtual product (air time) requires specific competence, global trends and national policy objectives that promotes the welfare of the citizenry.
Going forward, I urge the government to create a clearing house that monitors overall traffic inbound and out bound through an Exchange Point and also act as a financial intermediary for the settlement of all bills and call data records inter operator. This will optimize government revenues, sanitize the the telecommunication environment and finally harmonize the sector for the benefit of Gambian subscribers and people accessing Gambian networks from abroad. The current lull post Jammeh on the sector has caused irreparable damage to our Global Value Proposition as it relates to Calling Rates and unfortunately the net winners are non Gambians Companies who are illegally tapping into our networks without our knowledge or approval. Time is money in telecommunications and a lull in making critical sectoral decisions on how to proceed only erode further our goodwill and economic interest. In life you don't get what you deserve but rather what you negotiate and our silence in policy pronouncement in the sector post Jammeh is as good as what we negotiate as silence is a form of approval.
Monday, 6 February 2017
Time For A Trust Buster
It is often stated that it is good business practice to have vertically integrated companies. This in my view must come with a caveat.
The energy sector in the Gambia is in a precarious situation as it is heavily controlled by an entity that participates in the procurement, storage and retail of our downstream petrobusiness. Equally this entity is heavily vested in the generation of Electricity and still acts as a supplier of carburants (Heavy Fuel and Light Fuel). This is not acceptable and begs for an immediate revisit in the interest of the General public. Imagine a supplier of light fuel to NAWEC doubling as an independent power producer selling the same product (Gasoil) to NAWEC. This invites irregularities such as transfer pricing and other procurement irregularities that may be detrimental to the public interest.
The news in town is that Galp Energia has been bought by a major player in the Market by way of Mr. Bazzi's outfit Euro African Ltd. This is a major cause for concern as a storage provider cannot compete other retailers at the pump. I therefore opined without hesitation that public policy must discourage such a practice by terminating the management agreement by the minority share holder to administer the Mandinari Tank Farm depot. The new dispensation MUST allow the majority shareholders the public enterprises to form the management of the storage company. Government can also raise capital by divesting the equity holding of he public sector to the existing Oil Marketing companies as the have a direct nexus with the management of the Tank Farm.
I hate any semblance of Monopoly and encourage an anti trust environment. I therefore urge the authorities to redirect our energy policy to eliminate our heavy reliance in one individual and company. Energy is a vital component of economic development and our national aspirations must not be leverage to one or two entities. Finally, we implore on the new administration to champion an economic agenda that is premised on economic Nationalism which gives priority to Gambian entrepreneurs so long as it is not compromising economic efficiency and quality of service delivery.
#Gambia
#MonopolyBuster
#NewGAMBIA
The energy sector in the Gambia is in a precarious situation as it is heavily controlled by an entity that participates in the procurement, storage and retail of our downstream petrobusiness. Equally this entity is heavily vested in the generation of Electricity and still acts as a supplier of carburants (Heavy Fuel and Light Fuel). This is not acceptable and begs for an immediate revisit in the interest of the General public. Imagine a supplier of light fuel to NAWEC doubling as an independent power producer selling the same product (Gasoil) to NAWEC. This invites irregularities such as transfer pricing and other procurement irregularities that may be detrimental to the public interest.
The news in town is that Galp Energia has been bought by a major player in the Market by way of Mr. Bazzi's outfit Euro African Ltd. This is a major cause for concern as a storage provider cannot compete other retailers at the pump. I therefore opined without hesitation that public policy must discourage such a practice by terminating the management agreement by the minority share holder to administer the Mandinari Tank Farm depot. The new dispensation MUST allow the majority shareholders the public enterprises to form the management of the storage company. Government can also raise capital by divesting the equity holding of he public sector to the existing Oil Marketing companies as the have a direct nexus with the management of the Tank Farm.
I hate any semblance of Monopoly and encourage an anti trust environment. I therefore urge the authorities to redirect our energy policy to eliminate our heavy reliance in one individual and company. Energy is a vital component of economic development and our national aspirations must not be leverage to one or two entities. Finally, we implore on the new administration to champion an economic agenda that is premised on economic Nationalism which gives priority to Gambian entrepreneurs so long as it is not compromising economic efficiency and quality of service delivery.
#Gambia
#MonopolyBuster
#NewGAMBIA
Wednesday, 1 February 2017
What's In It For The Gambia?
It came to my attention by way of a public announcement on GRTS that the price of Petroleum products (PMS, AGO & KERO) has been increased. Well this did not come as a suprise considering the recent upsurge of global petroleum prices both in the crude and refined markets. Petroleum is a strategic product of national interest as it's effects filter down on all sectors of the economy. Furthermore price stability which has a consequential effect on inflation is highly sensitive to the volatility of Petroleum pricing.
Having said the above, the government of the Gambia need to revisit the national Petroleum arrangement (procurement, storage and distribution mechanisms) to ease off the spikes that are common in the trading of petrol products globally. First off, the current arrangement of the Mandinari Tank Farm is not in the best interest of the General public as the management of the tank farm/ storage facility has a vested interest in the importation of the product stored. This creates a messy relationship that puts EURO AFRICAN GROUP at an advantage relative to other importers. The parcel size of product imported directly affects the freight cost of product on board. Therefore the storage facility can opt to store a minimal quantity for competing importers thereby putting them at a disadvantage considering that the pump price is fixed. I therefore suggest that Euro African Group MUST BE delisted from importation since they dictate the terms of storage including throughput cost per liter stored. Government being a majority share holder by way of equity owned in the storage by different public enterprises must accord the public enterprises to form the management of the storage company not the minority share holder controlled by Mr Bazzi. With regards to the importation matrix, the platts plus premium formula used MUST BE REASONABLE as all cost borne by the importer will be passed on to the consumer at the pump level. The premiums quoted for Platts FOB MED destined for the Gambia are not in line with premium quotations for similar destinations leaving Mediterranean refineries. The fat that was enjoyed by importers mainly European Africa Group over the years has been at the expense of the consumer and sluggish growth figures of our economy.
So what's the way forward? Let's institute a price mechanism that smoothen the price of Petroleum products over a forseable future (2 years). This allows planners to have visibility in economic projections and planning. This can be instituted by creating a formula that has an inbuilt buffer called FLUMARA (Fluctuating Market Rates). This assumes a fix pump prices and savings made on importation in will be domiciled on a stabilisation fund that smoothen prices to avert inflationary pressures in the short term. When global prices hike up, the gains on the fumara will be used as a stabiliser so that the consumer will not feel the pinch of price volatility. This is the best alternative for price stability and prudent macroeconomic management of our energy sector which reverberates in all sectors of our economy. Finally, I will implore on the team at MOFEA to advocate for ECONOMIC NATIONALISM in the procurement of major government services. We DO NOT NEED the likes of Euro Africa to procure for us. They bring no value on the procurement process but rather leverage on guarantees provided by local oil marketing companies to raise their financing instruments. Enough of this economic plundering by brief case businessmen with no ties or social interest to the Gambia.
Having said the above, the government of the Gambia need to revisit the national Petroleum arrangement (procurement, storage and distribution mechanisms) to ease off the spikes that are common in the trading of petrol products globally. First off, the current arrangement of the Mandinari Tank Farm is not in the best interest of the General public as the management of the tank farm/ storage facility has a vested interest in the importation of the product stored. This creates a messy relationship that puts EURO AFRICAN GROUP at an advantage relative to other importers. The parcel size of product imported directly affects the freight cost of product on board. Therefore the storage facility can opt to store a minimal quantity for competing importers thereby putting them at a disadvantage considering that the pump price is fixed. I therefore suggest that Euro African Group MUST BE delisted from importation since they dictate the terms of storage including throughput cost per liter stored. Government being a majority share holder by way of equity owned in the storage by different public enterprises must accord the public enterprises to form the management of the storage company not the minority share holder controlled by Mr Bazzi. With regards to the importation matrix, the platts plus premium formula used MUST BE REASONABLE as all cost borne by the importer will be passed on to the consumer at the pump level. The premiums quoted for Platts FOB MED destined for the Gambia are not in line with premium quotations for similar destinations leaving Mediterranean refineries. The fat that was enjoyed by importers mainly European Africa Group over the years has been at the expense of the consumer and sluggish growth figures of our economy.
So what's the way forward? Let's institute a price mechanism that smoothen the price of Petroleum products over a forseable future (2 years). This allows planners to have visibility in economic projections and planning. This can be instituted by creating a formula that has an inbuilt buffer called FLUMARA (Fluctuating Market Rates). This assumes a fix pump prices and savings made on importation in will be domiciled on a stabilisation fund that smoothen prices to avert inflationary pressures in the short term. When global prices hike up, the gains on the fumara will be used as a stabiliser so that the consumer will not feel the pinch of price volatility. This is the best alternative for price stability and prudent macroeconomic management of our energy sector which reverberates in all sectors of our economy. Finally, I will implore on the team at MOFEA to advocate for ECONOMIC NATIONALISM in the procurement of major government services. We DO NOT NEED the likes of Euro Africa to procure for us. They bring no value on the procurement process but rather leverage on guarantees provided by local oil marketing companies to raise their financing instruments. Enough of this economic plundering by brief case businessmen with no ties or social interest to the Gambia.
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