Matarr

You may have a point.

For me we need good number to know rather than making decisions on feel/look good bases. The reliability of numbers across the board is a problem. 

Governments wants to show they’re moving hence cook the books. The current VA debacle in US is a timely example. Multi/bi-lateral organizations carry lots of credibility but they also fall for such games at times - knowingly/unknowingly. The agents behind those desks and their counter-parts either in governments/other organizations  want things to move, hence strike an acceptability levels. NGOs are caught up in the race for survival especially the local one’s. In fact I have first hand experience in this area because I served as ActionAid Liaison Officer/Partnership Coordinator - the interface of that organization with others including government. For instance I have trouble believing the monthly household expenditure figure of D7860 (D94320,00/year). Notice/remember expenditure 

The point is (at least for me), not what obtains in the Gambia or elsewhere but what should, how we can make that a reality and what goods that will earn us. 

That was why I asked whether we are poor and/or mismanaged considering our productive resources against the number of people they had/have to serve. I liked to use Walmart as an example because the estimated employee total is about the population of Gambia. Though apples and oranges. We have more resources than Walmart but certainly with both natural and structural limitations. Again better management could help minimize the effects of those limitation.

Good sharing your insight.

Regards

Burama
 
On May 31, 2014, at 12:11 AM, Matarr Sillah <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Demba, 

Don't be fooled by the comfy offices of the IMF & the WB in Washington, DC.  Along with the OECD, they operate some of the best databanks around.  Half of the data in the report Dr. Jaiteh quoted came from the WB & the IMF.  I don't know about the opposition, but Jammeh and his buddies do produce reports from data they get in the field.  You will find a handful if you look around. 

Burama, with inflation, I would be careful using the the MDG poverty line $ amount that was adjusted after the financial crisis by the World Bank to make a case for getting out of poverty.  Sure, Jammeh can finally play his oil CD and meet the $1.25 MDG requirement, but to be able to say Gambia truly moved over 1 million people out of poverty, policy makers must adjust/increase this poverty line to keep up with the rising CPI (between 5-7% annually).  

China - It can be very dangerous to use China as a case study.  The Chinese had a completely different attitude towards work, nonprofits, foreign aid and private relief organizations. Basically, almost everything you are preaching, the Chinese leaders were against, including human rights.  What ensured in China as a result was decades of famine that ended up killing millions. Given our politics at the moment, I do not see Gambia going through a similar phase for the sake of sustainable trade just to lift us out of poverty.   

We should also not get too excited about being poorly managed because we "have abundant resources"; we are a resource poor nation.  In the waters, there is really not much you can do with our ports these days.  We've lost our competitiveness as a re-exportation hub to other countries in the sub-region due to ill advised policies from the early days of the APRC govt. 

Stats - although statistics will help us plan better, but labour statistics in Africa is generally neither here nor there.  No one really know the real characteristics of our economy since most of it is done in the informal sector and trying to bring that to the fold is a way more difficult than we are imagining at the moment. This is where our stats problem continues to be and it is a phenomenon all African nations are currently struggling with.  

For Gambia, we will really need to start thinking about adopting policies that will shift our economy from the agricultural sector and into the industrial sector.  Industrialization as we've seen in all emerging economies will be key if we are really serious about ending poverty.  The data Dr. Jaiteh forwarded on migration show high rates of rural-urban migration, and if that is the case, then this is the right time for Gambia to aggressively pursue industrialization.

Thanks, 
Matarr
 



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