By Makutu Manneh
Seedy Keita, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, has described the national telecommunications company, Gamtel, as a liability rather than an asset, noting that its liabilities exceed its asset base.
“For Gamcel particularly three months in a row. We were taking from our public funds to pay their staff; it was that bad,” Minister Keita stated.
He emphasized that Gamtel operates as a limited liability company, independently owned and managed, and highlighted that management of all public enterprises has access to resources to invest and sustain operations.
Minister Keita questioned the efficiency of the state-owned enterprise compared to private sector companies, noting that Gamtel is the backbone of the country’s digital infrastructure. “How come the private sector is able to be more efficient?” he asked.
He stressed that public funds cannot continually be used to sustain state-owned enterprises. Instead, he said, the management and boards of SOEs should seek resources from the market and invest strategically to ensure their continuity, as their private sector counterparts do.“They did not sit down and say, ‘Our shareholders have given us this much, and the market is changing; what do we do?. They have gone to the market to borrow, invest, and grow,” he explained.
Minister Keita added that while the government has financed certain loans for some SOEs, including Gamtel’s expansion, this was done in its capacity as guarantor, not as a long-term solution for the enterprises’ operational challenges.