WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-06-11 Time: 16:00:32 Posted By: News Poster
By Sheriff Janko
The Gambia yesterday played host to the 8th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development (Ebid) at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.
Ebid was established in 1999 and commenced operations in 2004 as a holding company for the Ecowas Regional Development Fund and the Ecowas Investment Bank for financing the public and private sectors, with a vision to make it the leader in financing investment and development in West Africa.
Presided over by Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, the vice president and minister of Women’s Affairs and attended by cabinet ministers, secretary general and head of Civil Service, permanent secretaries and heads of institutions, the one day Banjul meeting availed delegates the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues as well as chart a course to make Ebid a more effective vehicle for financing the investment requirements of countries in the sub-region.
In his welcoming address, Momodou S Foon, the minister of Finance, used the opportunity on behalf of the Gambian leader to welcome the delegates to the meeting and to The Gambia.
According to him, their visit coincides with the two-week 5th Kanilai International Cultural Festival organised by President Jammeh, which is being marked this year with a tribute to the world’s renowned king of pop, the late Michael Jackson, by his brother Jermaine Jackson. He then commended the executive of Ebid for their two-day attendance at the festival.
Minister Foon said the board meeting comes on the heels of the recently concluded annual meeting of the African Development Bank, where it was confirmed to triple the capital stock of the bank to US$100 billion and renew the tenure of Mr Donald Kaberuka as president of the Bank, among other decisions taken.
He continued: “If it were not for the two terms limitation stipulated by the articles of association of the Ebid for the presidency, The Gambia would have no qualms renewing Mr Christien Adevolande’s term of office for his sterling performance at the helm of affairs of the bank. We must all join in the efforts to have a suitable replacement that would ably consolidate his resounding legacy.
The Gambia fully concurs with the existing breakdown of the bank portfolio by sector that accords infrastructure about three-quarters of available resources, followed in declining order by industry, social sector, services and rural development concomitant with a marginal edge in favour of the public sector over the private sector.
The areas of intervention within the infrastructure are telecommunication, energy, water ports and airports, transport, environment, hospital and private clinics, hotel and real estate. It is our considered view that leveraging for syndicated multiple sovereign borrowing supported financially and technically by Ebid is a felt need and source of product differentiation that the bank can embrace.”
Minister Foon asserted that The Gambia’s relationship with Ebid presents much room for expansion of the country’s infrastructure, adding that the bank group’s first intervention in the country was funding the government acquisition of assets of cable and wireless gadgets (now Gamtel) and expansion of the Banjul Earth Station.
He added: “The facility catered for the cost relating to the Kaolack-Banjul-Ziguinchor-Cachew sub-regional networking project to the tune of UA1.2Million in the mid 1980’s. The loan has since been fully repaid. In 2008, Ebid provided US$20Million to Nawec in support of the Rural Electrification Programme as a means of stimulating socio-economic development and growth. The facility is guaranteed by government but directly being serviced by Nawec.”
In her keynote address, the vice president, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy said it is well known that 2008/9 were very difficult years for many developing countries and in Africa, following the financial crisis that originated from the industrialised nations, which spread across the world. According to her, the continued economic recession in the developed world for much of 2008/9, led to sluggish export growth and a slowdown of financial flows like remittances, foreign capital and investment into the developing countries, which The Gambia was not an exception. “The sharp decline in global economic activity had adverse impact on the Gambia economy in 2008, leading to decline of exports, remittances, manufacturing production, and wholesale and retail trade.
However, thanks to the very good performance of agriculture production supported by bumper harvest and good performance of electricity, telecommunication and financial sectors, the growth rate of real GDP improved from 6% in 2007 to 6.3% in 2008,” she stated. She explained that agriculture performed well again in 2009 due to special focus on agricultural development by the government, citing president Jammeh’s back-to-the-land call. She disclosed that share of agriculture in GDP increased from 21.6% in 2007 to 25.3% in 2009, with the share of industry declining from 14.7% to 13.2% while that of service declined from 63.7% to 61.5% during the same period. “The increase in agriculture share was due to the increase in share of crops, while the decline of service shares was mainly due to decline of wholesale and retail trade, and transport and communication,” she added, while acknowledging that the recent economic development clearly indicates that the country’s growth was mainly agriculture-driven.
She then emphasised the critical role of agricultural development in boosting the overall economic growth and in ensuring food security, reducing reliance on food import, generating employment and in eradicating poverty and hunger at a faster speed under the MDGs initiatives. “So we need to continue with our focus on agriculture with more vigour. The agricultural sector’s good performance points to economic diversification and resilience from external shocks, and veritable strategy to shield the poorest in the country that is mostly dependent on agriculture,” she said.
Dilating on the fortunes of The Gambia’s banking industry, she said: “Despite the global financial crisis, The Gambia’s banking industry is expanding significantly and remains sound as it does not have significant foreign liabilities. Total assets of the commercial banks increased by 18.7% from D12.5 billion at the end of December 2008 to D14.8billion at the end December 2009. The banking industry’s overall capital adequacy ratio and asset quality are satisfactory. The industry’s average’s risk-weighted capital adequacy was 18.1% at end December 2009, well above the statutory requirement of 8%.
The number of banks which stand at 14 has enabled significant increase in loans and advances to various sectors by 25.3% to D4.4 billion in December 2009 from D3.5 billion in December 2008. Credits to agriculture increased by 87%, that for manufacturing by 105% and that of distributive trade by 22.7%.”
The vice president informed the gathering that despite unprecedented global financial and economic crisis, The Gambia’s balance of payment position remained sustainable, saying the provisional balance of payments estimates indicates an overall surplus of D137.9 million in 2009 compared to a deficit of D811.3 million in 2008. She further disclosed that the current account balance including transfers, recorded a surplus of D1.54 billion relative to a deficit of D1.2 billion in 2008 while the capital and financial account balance worsened to a deficit of D1.4 billion.
She then expressed confidence that The Gambia has the economic fundamentals right as exemplified by the stable macroeconomic condition. Speaking earlier, Christian N Adovelande, the president of Ebid, thanked the Gambian leader for the warm hospitality accorded to them. He equally commended the board of governors of the bank for their encouragement, adding that over the years, the bank has embarked on many development projects crucial to the development of it’s members.
Oussou Kouassy, the representative of the chairman, Board of Governors of Ebid, expressed similar sentiments. He used the opportunity on behalf of the Ivorian delegation to thank the Gambian leader for the welcome accorded them. He spoke at length about the banks activities over the past years adding that in 2009, their profit was remarkable despite operating under difficult circumstances. The vote of thanks was delivered by Naffie Barry, permanent secretary, Ministry of Trade, Regional Integration and Employment.
Original date published: 8 June 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201006110563.html?viewall=1