President Adama Barrow welcomed a visiting group of US investors this week. The US Chamber of Commerce for Africa organised the visit, which was part of a plan to explore potential areas of collaboration and investment by introducing US Companies to The Gambia.

Lithium Capital Chief Executive Simon Tiemtore, who led the delegation, stressed that the visit was a scoping mission to engage the Gambian government and private sector on how they, the US firms, could best work in partnership with them to promote The Gambia’s national economic development agenda. He said that such cooperation could cover various fields, including agriculture and agri-business, energy and infrastructure, education and healthcare.

President Barrow told the visitors that investment was the backbone of development and that The Gambia had the right environment to build bridges between developed and developing countries. He said their interest in the development of the country through mutually beneficial business ties was welcome. He acknowledged that there were challenges, and said diversity in investments to promote small and medium enterprises was desirable.

Noting the critical importance of energy to attract investment, Mr. Tiemtore spoke about the possibility of developing a 40 megawatt power generating facility to help The Gambia address its immediate energy needs.