The Gambia government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Ghanian firm to replicate its African tailored waste management solution in The Gambia. 

The signing ceremony was led by the Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, Rohey John Manjang and Joseph Siaw Agyepong, executive chairman of the Jospong Group in Accra. 

According to Madam Manjang, there was the need for Africa to devise homegrown solutions to its challenges, stating her ambition to build a waste treatment plant in The Gambia within six months through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

“I know, for Africa to go forward with our limited resources, we need to be innovative in making sure that we fix our problems. We cannot just say that we do not have money,” she said.

This follows a five-day duty tour of the Waste Management facilities of the Jospong Group in Ghana by a high-powered 12-Member Gambian government delegation made up of the Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, Parliamentarians, local council officials and technical team from the National Environment Agency.

Manjang assured that the signing of the MoU marked the beginning of a concrete roadmap for implementing a comprehensive waste management solution for the Gambia.

“What we saw this past three days was amazing; it broke our heart for the simple reason that I could not have imagined the solution that the Western countries and institutions proposed with its inherent debt was right here with us in Africa, which does not require much feasibility because this is an African made solution,” she lamented.

For his part, the Executive Chairman of JGC, Jospeh Siaw Agyepong, noted that Africa’s reliance on foreign aid had hindered its progress. 

He expressed optimism about the project’s potential for success in The Gambia, urging Gambians to work together to achieve their goals.