America’s economic growth rate of 2024 was 2.8%, Japan 2.2%, Saudi Arabia 1.3%, and Senegal 11.6%. Senegal’s number was just for the first quarter of 2024 alone. IMF officials have reported a 5.3% growth for The Gambia for the year 2024, Kerr Fatou reported Wednesday, June 4^th 2024. We thank Kerr Fatou for the coverage. The report also claimed such growth from The Gambia “out-paced” regional counterparts. In 2009, Senegal’s Abdoulie Wade was engulfed in a bribery scandal of an IMF rep from Barcelona, Spain who was known to be strict. President Wade agreed that he gave the rep a stash of cash amounting €133,000.00 (one hundred and thirty-three thousand Euros) which is about 87.2 million CFA today.

President Wade later claimed the huge amount was a gift with an error. He said it was customary to gift someone you were with for a while. Did Wade “gift” our African ambassadors he worked with after they finished their terms in Senegal?

Worse, the Spanish IMF rep called Alex Segura also accepted the money and only returned it after arriving in Barcelona. France24 reported that, “In December [prior to the scandal] the IMF chided Senegal for lapses in following a plan for economic reforms and at the same time pledged 75.6 million dollars (56.2 million euros) in aid to help the country face the effects of the economic crisis.”

But Senegalese folks still agreed with neither Wade, nor Segura’s action. France24, a French government-owned outfit later wrote, “Still, Senegalese commentators have questioned why he accepted the gift and left the country with the package of cash. In explaining Segura’s actions, the IMF said he was worried about missing his flight and was concerned about finding a place to stash the cash safely in Senegal.” We at forGambia will say, “Really?”

If Segura had deposited that huge amount in his bank, he would have been investigated. Western countries are not like African family or tribal regimes. Their parliaments and institutions are very independent compared to the African world. But why do we reference the Wade-Segura scandal here? It corroborates what sceptics have always been saying: that African governments do bribe IMF reps for favorable country reports.

So, IMF reports are usually nothing. Why? We will explain for every Gambian to understand.

1. How has that 5.3% growth in 2024 impacted Gambia’s economy, people, prices, basic commodities, purchasing power, GDP, etc?
2. A bag of rice when Jammeh was leaving was reduced from D1,050 a bag to D950 a bag. Today, it is D2,250 and climbing!
3. If a football club claims growth, surpassing regional clubs, fans would expect better success stories and silverware in their wardrobes. Where are Gambia’s success stories from that growth?
4. The hardship in The Gambia, often reflected in the unbearable cost of living has been increasing since Barrow came to power. So, is the 5.3% growth a thing to celebrate or even newsworthy?
5. The government of India is facing backlash for reporting hyped GDP growth. Critics say they even add “cow dung” to their numbers. Internal critics of Indian origin and citizenship are attacking the Modi Government for this. Why? Because India has the biggest number of the poorest people on the planet—poorer than Sub-Saharan Africans. So, where are these numbers of so-called growth coming from? Even if they were accurate, the bottom line is, people don’t need these sooth-seeking figures. They need real changes and improvements in their lives.
6. We just reported yesterday that Gambia ranked above only 19 countries  in the Human Development index. HDI is used by the United Nations to measure the progress of a country. Gambia is 174th out of 193 countries! Story here:

https://forgambia.com/gambia-spends-millions-or-billions-running-foreign-embassies-unnecessary-ministries-departments/

7. The Gambia government still hasn’t paid some of our poor farmers the little money it owes them. When we see a significant reduction of cost of a bag of rice, sugar, oil, other basic staples, then we can rightfully claim progress. But please these misleading reports of so-called numbers of growth as marks of progress or some prosperity either from the Fund or local government should be taken not with a grain of salt, but a shipload of it.