Recovery Focused National Development Plan (RF-NDP) 2023-2027

The Government of the Gambia’s new Recovery Focused National Development Plan (RF-NDP 2023 - 2027) charts the recovery of the Gambia from COVID-19, climate change and other shocks. The plan is a successor to the elapsed NDP 2018-2021/22 developed under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA). The approach used in the preparation of this plan is a “whole of society” one that articulates the medium-term transformational aspirations of the country.

The plan has been formulated and will be implemented in a challenging global and regional economic context, and continuous uncertainties are expected to have adverse impacts on developing countries, including the Gambia. This context is characterised by a contraction in economic activities in the main advanced economies and which is worsening the current and trade account balances of the Gambia through reduced external demand for Gambian goods and services for export. The global inflationary trend has led to increasing domestic inflation on prices of imported food and energy. The tightening of monetary policy in the major advanced economies is increasing the cost of debt servicing in developing countries like the Gambia. Furthermore, the tight global financial conditions pose challenges in accessing adequate financing for our development. Finally, there are heightened fears of erosion in the advances made in health, education, environmental protection, and livelihoods. This could result in reversing gains in poverty reduction and increasing household fragilities and vulnerabilities, and potentially undermining gains in democratic governance. Government will therefore endeavour to build the resilience of our institutions and people in responding to these and other shocks, given the likelihood that they will reoccur; hence the importance of factoring them in our development planning. The Foundations of the Plan Drawing upon the extensive stakeholder consultations and comprehensive analysis of the global, regional, and national development context, the following seven overarching imperatives that will drive and inform this national development plan have been identified:

1. Imperative 1: Address fragility, vulnerability and build resilience of households and communities to shocks and crises;

2. Imperative 2: Consolidate gains made in democratic governance and address the outstanding gaps;

3. Imperative 3: Vigorously pursue macroeconomic reforms to ensure stability and inclusive growth;

4. Imperative 4: Prioritise Human Capital Development for economic and social transformation;

5. Imperative 5: Strengthen integration and linkages within the Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) sector for enhanced economic growth and productivity with more job creation with increased incomes, accompanied by climate action;  

6. Imperative 6: Act to advance the empowerment and social inclusion of women, girls, children, youth, persons with disabilities and older persons for a more productive, better and fairer society; and

7. Imperative 7: Build our infrastructure to boost connectivity, promote growth and render Gambia more competitive, especially in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area