By Seedy Jobe
Saikou Sawo, the flagbearer of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), has argued that industrialization offers the fastest path to tackling unemployment in The Gambia, while stressing that meaningful industrial growth will remain out of reach without reliable and affordable domestically generated electricity.
Speaking on The Final Take, a program hosted by The Alkamba Times, Mr. Sawo said the country’s persistent lack of economic opportunities has driven many Gambians, including women and young people, to undertake dangerous irregular migration routes in search of better prospects.
“When it comes to job creation, I have always said we need to be innovative; we need to focus on industrialization. That’s the quickest and fastest way we can create mass jobs and opportunity,” he said.
Mr. Sawo also disclosed that during coalition discussions with the United Democratic Party (UDP), the PPP submitted a set of policy proposals that are now being integrated with the UDP’s five-point agenda and policy contributions from other opposition groups, including the Golden Era movement’s “Golden Nine” agenda.
He said the coalition’s objective is to merge the various proposals into a single policy platform and manifesto ahead of future elections.
A central pillar of that agenda, Mr. Sawo said, is energy reform.
He argued that industrialization cannot succeed without a dependable electricity supply, saying, The Gambia currently lacks the energy capacity needed to sustain factories and large-scale manufacturing.
According to Mr. Sawo, more than half of the country’s electricity is imported from neighboring Senegal, leaving the economy dependent on external sources of power and limiting its industrial potential.
“There’s no industrialization without having stable energy; there’s no industrialization without having cheap energy,” he said. “You need affordable energy, and you need to have energy in abundance.”
Mr. Sawo called for a significant expansion of domestic electricity generation, saying between 70 and 80 percent of the country’s power should be produced locally to support industrial development and reduce reliance on imports.
He said that pairing a stronger domestic energy sector with an industrialization strategy would enable The Gambia to generate large-scale employment and create greater economic opportunities for young people, reducing the pressures that drive many to seek livelihoods abroad.
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