NAWEC Corporate Services Manager Explains How $164 Million World Bank Investment Was Spent

By Makutu Manneh

Sanna Touray, Group Corporate Services Director at the National Water and Electricity Company, has sought to clarify public concerns over millions of dollars in funding provided to NAWEC by the World Bank and other development partners.

Speaking on Kerr Fatou on Thursday, Touray said discussions about investments in NAWEC often focus heavily on power generation and cash-power payments, overlooking other critical parts of the electricity system.

“It is critical to note this: We are focusing a lot on generation, but there is a lot more to electricity,” he said. “There is generation, distribution, transmission, and all others.”

Touray pointed to the World Bank-funded JAM project, which he said represents an investment of nearly $164 million spread across several components of the country’s electricity infrastructure.

Among those investments, he said, is the 20-megawatt solar power plant in Jambur. Other components have focused on strengthening the country’s transmission and distribution network, including the construction of a 225-kilovolt transmission line.

Touray said the 225-kilovolt line has expanded The Gambia’s energy options by allowing the country to import electricity while also strengthening the national grid.

He said the investments have helped make the electricity system more resilient and expanded access to power, which he said now stands at about 90 percent nationwide.

The project has also supported institutional improvements within NAWEC, Touray said, including the development of modern information technology infrastructure connecting the company’s operations.

“So people will talk about the investment,” he said, “but we can give you a breakdown of these investments.”