Last year when the newly appointed US ambassador to The Gambia heaped
praises on President Jammeh and his government for what they have achieved
over the past few years, some of his critics could not believe what they
heard and some even questioned his sanity.

A few months ago, when a re-known International Organization classified
The Gambia as among the top 3 for governance in Africa the same critics
questioned their logic, some even asking whether they were referring to
the same Gambia that we al know.

A few weeks ago, The UN gave a very encouraging Human Development Index to
the country and, this time, the critics either remained mute or tried to
dismiss it as a non-event.

Well, there is some more good news to report. According to the widely
respected Geneva-based World Economic Forum, WEF submitted annual
evaluation global survey of the economic competitiveness of a large sample
of countries. This year’s report, published on October 30, makes
comparisons between nations or economies across the globe on the basis of
two indices: Growth Competitive Index (GCI) and Business Competitiveness
Index (BCI).

On GCI, which looked at the suitability of the micro-economic climate,
quality of public institutions, adoption of technology and innovation for
technology advancement, The Gambia is ranked 55 out of 102 countries
globally and 6th out of 25 African countries, ranking ahead of Senegal,
Mali, Tunisia, Ghana, Morocco and Kenya among others.

In micro-economic environment index, The Gambia is ranked 5th out 25
African countries, 4th out of 25 African countries in the public
institutions index (Parastatals) and 11th out of 25 African countries in
the technology index.

On the Business Competitiveness Index, the report ranked The Gambia 8th
out of the 25 African countries surveyed. This, the report says, indicates
the quality of the country’s business environment. Although there are many
areas to improve upon such as inadequate infrastructure, inadequately
educated workforce, foreign currency regulation, inflation etc, according
to the report, The Gambia is on a good track of shooting up its global
competitiveness.

Before some of Jammeh’s critics rush to dismiss the report as irrelevant,
let them take a cue from the Ecowas member states. According to a recent
press release from The Gambia Investment Promotion and Free Zones Agency
(GIPFZA), The Gambia was unanimously selected to house the Permanent
Secretariat of the Association of Investment Promotion Agencies for West
African States (IPAWAS). This unanimous decision was made during a meeting
of member states in Nigeria from November 3rd to 5th. The Gambia was also
elected to the six-member steering committee charged with implementing the
programmes of the association.

Have a good day, Gassa.


--
There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see,
yet small enough to solve (Mike Leavitt)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~