Tag Archives: the gambia

In praise of The Gambia and the Economic Community of West African States

By Paul Walter | Tue 23rd April 2019 - 11:20 am

A fishing boat is unloaded at the Gambian fishing town of Tanji
Three years ago I wrote about a visit to The Gambia in West Africa which was bitter sweet. As always the country itself, and the people of The Gambia, were charming. However, the country was in the last days of a dictatorship which lasted for 23 years. Indeed, I left out the name of the country in my article to avoid any problems with future entry.

Posted in Op-eds | 1 Comment

Tony Blair bestrides the globe while the UK goes “la la la – not listening”

By Paul Walter | Sat 18th November 2017 - 11:30 am

It seems that shortly after attending the Remembrance Sunday parade at London’s Cenotaph, former Prime Minister Tony Blair hopped on a plane for The Gambia. On Tuesday, he popped up there to meet the country’s President, Adama Barrow at his office (above) and then have dinner with him at the Coco Ocean Resort and Spa in Serrekunda. (A night in the Presidential suite there would set you back £1870). Globe-trotting Tony Blair also met Mr Barrow back in April, shortly after the latter had been elected President, replacing the tyrannical Yayha Jammeh.

Tony Blair has recently had many high level meetings with African leaders. Back in July he was in Kaduna, Nigeria and Togo. He’s been to Ghana. This month he was also in Cote d’Ivoire. There he met the Energy Minister, the Education Minister and the Prime Minister.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged africa and tony blair | 13 Comments

A tale of two Presidents

By Paul Walter | Mon 23rd January 2017 - 9:55 am

Embed from Getty Images

As we know, on Friday Donald Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States. This was in a carefully choreographed handover of power, laid down by the Founding Fathers of the nation a couple of centuries ago. This is a country of 319 million people with a GDP per capita (PPP) of $53,750. Trump was elected in a process which took two years in total. Controversial but smooth.

Just a few hours before, election winner Adama Barrow was sworn in as President of The Gambia, one of Africa’s smallest states. It is smaller, in land area, than Yorkshire. It has 1.9 million people. The equivalent GDP figure here is 3% of that of the USA. This Presidential inauguration was rather different to the one in Washington DC.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged africa, president adama barrow and president jammeh | 8 Comments

Extremely welcome news from The Gambia – ‘the marbles have spoken’

By Paul Walter | Sun 4th December 2016 - 2:30 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Well, well, well. Wonders never cease. President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia has conceded defeat after the country’s Presidential Election. Those are words I never thought anyone would write. Jammeh has been President of The Gambia for 22 years. He once said he would rule for ‘a billion years’. He has recently become increasingly erratic and autocratic.

Posted in News | Also tagged africa and president jammeh | 2 Comments