It is obvious that Yaya and his cohorts have woefully failed the Gambian
people. Gambians today are poorer than they were seven years ago when Yaya
and his gang of bandits stole power from a democratically elected
government. They promised to improve the lot of Gambians. That promise never
materialized. Instead, Gambia has declined over the years.

It is also a known fact that the government of the day cannot employ the
bulk of Gambians in high-paying government jobs. We cannot have a
comprehensive social security system that can be used as a safety net for
the poor and vulnerable in our society. But what the government CAN and
SHOULD do, is at least provide a conducive environment where hardworking
Gambians (mostly self-employed farmers) can thrive. The next government MUST
ensure that our farmers sell their groundnuts (major export product) at
competitive rates.

How do we do that? My humble suggestion is to first of all form a
corporation that would be in charge of the marketing of groundnuts. The
Gambia government would be the major shareholder in the corporation. I will
explain why. Other shareholders can include cooperative unions I will also
talk about later. The general public (including commercial banks and
'para-statals') will also be encouraged to become investors in this
corporation.

The major objective of this corporation would be to raise funds to buy the
groundnuts from the farmers and then sell it in the international market. In
order to raise the desired funds, the corporation can depend on capital
contributions from shareholders and debt instruments such as bonds floated
both locally and internationally. There  has always been a lucrative market
in treasury bills in Gambia. Commercial Banks do not need to lend money to
the general public in Gambia. They can just deposit their money at the
Central Bank and lend the money to the government at exorbitant interest
rates. This requires no innovative thinking from the commercial banks. The
last time I checked, the banks can get money from their customers and pay
them 5% interest (0% for Sarahulehs that do not want 'ribar') and then give
the money to the government and get a 15% return. Every six months they go
to the Central Bank, get their interest payments and leave the principal
there. From their interest payments, they can declare hefty profits for the
bank and repatriate same to their foreign shareholders. Meanwhile their
principal is intact. Almost no risk of the government defaulting. Typical
'Ponzy Scheme' in American parlance.

The new government has to tackle this laziness and stagnation of our
economy. Apart from the commercial banks, institutions such as Social
Security also spend millions lending money to the government at exorbitant
interest rates. The government in turn does not use this money wisely. Civil
servants use the moneys for paying government salaries and financing bogus
overseas trips. In any case, this money is not reaching our farmers.

Why can't we have a highly rated bond from our groundnut marketing
corporation that would take the place of the Treasury and Central Bank bills
that lazy commercial bankers and managing directors of 'para-statals' are so
fond of? The government can stand behind this bond offering and offer
lenders the same guarantees they get vis-a-vis the current government debt
instruments we have. This would also be an opportunity for the government to
at long last do something tangible with our high interest rates when it
comes to borrowing money from the banks. If the banks and 'para-statals' do
not see the high rates coming from the current bills, they will look up to
the next best thing.

The bond from this corporation can also be marketed internationally. A
guaranteed 10% per annum return on investment is attractive in any market.
Rather than asking for hand-outs from certain donor countries, let us ask
them to stand behind our bonds in order to give the offering credibility in
the international market. United States has done that for the Mexicos of
this world.

I am sure others can come up with other innovative ways of raising funds for
our groundnut marketing corporation. Once the funds are in, we can buy the
produce directly from the farmers at very good prices. We save our farmers
the anxiety of thinking about working the whole year round just to have
nothing to show for their sweat and toil. Another thing is that by buying
the groundnut directly from the farmers before the corporation markets it,
we also benefit from the economies of scale. We also benefit from the de
facto monopoly the corporation will have. I must hasten to add here that the
monopoly status should not be abused.

The corporation would have studied the international groundnut market
thoroughly and be familiar with the players. That way, the corporation will
be able to use its inherent advantages (economies of scale, monopoly,
government backing etc.) in order to sell the groundnuts at competitive
rates in the international market. The stellar research done by the
corporation would help in fixing good prices for our farmers. Our
corporation should also be in a position to make modest profits for its
shareholders.

I mentioned cooperative unions earlier on. I believe the local farmers
should be given a lot of say in shaping their destiny. To empower our poor,
we have to go to the grassroots and give them an environment and a vehicle
to contribute to their well-being. How do we do that? I suggest we group
farming communities to form unions with members ranging from 100 to 300
people. These cooperatives will be run under democratic ideals. The union
leaders will represent their members in a global body made up of all the
cooperatives in the country. This body can be a non-profit making
organization that looks after the welfare of the farming community. They
will liaise with government officials (Ministry of Agriculture), aid
agencies and other bodies in the country to ensure that they get the 'raw'
material necessary to produce their groundnuts. It would also be wise for
the union to come together and purchase shares in the groundnut marketing
corporation envisioned above. That way, the union can look after the welfare
of the local farmers when our corporation is attempting to set prices for
the purchase of the groundnuts from the farmers. On the other hand, if the
corporation comes out better in this arrangement in any given year, the
farmers will also benefit from the profit sharing the union will get thanks
to its shares in the marketing outfit.

Let us NOT have a government that will say to the most vulnerable in our
society (poor people) that: 'we cannot help you. We are not responsible for
buying your groundnut.' Let us be accountable for this vital sector of our
economy. Let us tell our farmers that we will INDEED buy their groundnuts at
very good rates. Our government should not give up on our people like Yaya
and his cohorts; bunch of High School drop-outs that do not have the
wherewithal to move the country forward. When they CANNOT ensure that the
groundnuts are bought, they cowardly and callously declare that it is NOT
their job. Well, it would be the job of our next government. We have to come
up with a way to help our farmers. We can't just give up on them like Yaya
and his cohorts.

Again, I encourage people more conversant with this industry to help
brainstorm. Our Opposition Parties have been criticized on numerous
occasions for failing to articulate a plan for a post-Yaya government. Some
of the criticism might be justified. In order to have the moral authority to
further criticize the Opposition, I thought it would be better to give them
ideas and see what they are going to do with it. I hope by the time we are
done (hopefully before the end of July) people will be in no doubt that the
Opposition have a plan to move the country forward after Yaya. This is NOT
premature counting the chickens. This is to preempt a vicious lie told by
our opponents that the Opposition does not have a plan to move the country
forward.
KB

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