By Makutu Manneh
Members of the Gambian diaspora in the United Kingdom and the United States have voiced growing frustration over the rising cost of living in The Gambia, warning that economic pressures at home are placing an increasing burden on families abroad.
Speaking on The Brunch on Saturday, Sarjo Gassama, a Gambian resident in the UK, said price increases in local markets directly affect diaspora communities who regularly send remittances to support relatives back home.
“We feel it and we have to put our budget in such a way that we will accommodate the cost of living in The Gambia for the families at home,” he stated.
He noted that widespread poverty in The Gambia has effectively extended to the diaspora, as relatives abroad shoulder much of the financial strain. Gassama said this reality helps explain why many young Gambians continue to risk their lives through irregular migration, commonly known as the “backway.”
Gassama also criticized the government’s development efforts, arguing that they fall short of addressing the everyday struggles of ordinary citizens. While acknowledging ongoing road construction projects, he said priority should be given to tackling the high cost of living and creating sustainable livelihoods.
“If people have a sustainable means of living, the rest can follow gradually,” he said.
He added that Gambians in the UK are equally concerned about security and corruption at home, issues that he said frequently come up in conversations with family members.
“These are the main issues that everybody is concerned about because your families keep on calling and telling you about these issues,” he said.
Echoing similar sentiments, Yankuba Sawaneh, a Gambian living in the United States, described the cost of living as one of the most pressing issues facing families both at home and abroad.
Sawaneh said he often wonders how families without relatives abroad manage to survive daily economic hardships, adding that even Gambians visiting from the diaspora are increasingly feeling the strain.
“Just living here recently, I have experienced the cost of living, the moment you change the dollar it’s gone. The dependency on the diaspora has been really heavy and I could imagine if a family does not have supporting relatives in the diaspora how would those people really survive the daily struggles,” he said.
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