The World Bank and the Gambia signed a $68 million grant deal on Tuesday as part of efforts to revive the West African country’s tourism sector which accounts for at least 20% of its gross domestic product and is the largest foreign exchange earner.
Representatives of both parties who announced this at a ceremony said that the grant was meant to support the diversification and climate resilience of tourism in the Gambia, a country of around 2.1 million inhabitants surrounded by Senegal.
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Speaking at the signing ceremony in Gambia’s capital Banjul, the World Bank managing director of operations Axel Van Trotsenburgsaid that the tourism sector, like industries across Africa, has been impacted by the pandemic and economic fallouts of the war in Ukraine.
He explained that the grant is meant to among other things, promote sustainable tourism, develops different holiday experiences and help protect Gambia’s Atlantic coastline from the impacts of climate change.
“The pandemic caused Gambia’s economic growth to contract by 0.2% in 2020,” Trotsenburg said. “The economy has since started to recover, reaching 5.6% growth in 2021, largely driven by the return of beach resort-goers and remittances”.
Story was adapted from CNBC Africa.
