President Adama Barrow has revealed the US Embassy rejected his visa applications not once, but seven times.

The Gambian leader told state TV he eventually gave up on the American dream and headed to the UK, where he worked long shifts as a security guard before returning home in 2007 to start a real estate business.

Nine years later, he was swept into power on a coalition ticket.

Barrow confessed he was once dazzled by the flashy cars of Gambians returning from Europe and the US, but life abroad proved no joyride.

And he said:”I have apllied sonmany visas and gad applied visas at the American Embassy seven times and got rejected.”

By Adama Makasuba