Gambian Market Updates

Dalasi Appreciates

The currency market seems to have reacted to the stern warning issued by the Government last week to “speculator and hoarders of foreign currency”. In the Interbank Market, the local currency gained on all the major currencies.

It appreciated by 150butus against the Dollar to D27.75, was unchanged against the Pound Sterling at D42.25 and gained 25bututs against Euro to D36.00. In the Parallel market, the Dalasi was down 8bututs against the Dollar to D31.33.

This is the Dalasi’s smallest weekly drop against the Dollar over the last 6weeks. The local currency remained unchanged against the Pound Sterling and the Euro at D45.50 and D38.00 respectively.

Dalasi Interbank Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 27.75
Pound 42.25
Euro 36.00
CFA 280.00

Parallel Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 31.33
Pound 45.50
Euro 38.00
CFA 280.00

Yields Rise Marginally

With the exception of the 91-day (s/s) which experienced a 7bps drop in its yield to 10.05%, interest rates on all other government debt in the Money Market, edged up this week.

The 91-day bill was up 8bps to 9.45%, the 182-day bill was up 5bps to 10.50% and the 1year note inched up 4bps to 12.84%. We anticipate yields to continue their upward trend for the next couple of weeks.

Threats Made against Reporter for AP and Jollof News in The Gambia

IPI Calls for Police to Bring Perpetrators to Justice


By Naomi Hunt , Press Freedom Adviser for Africa & the Middle East


VIENNA 22 June 2010: Gambian journalist Abdoulie John has received threats from unnamed callers over the past few weeks, he told IPI in a phone interview today.

John is a correspondent for the Associated Press news agency and an editor of online news outlet Jollof News. He told IPI he fears the threats are coming from Gambian security operatives.

Over the past month, John has received several threatening late-night calls. On 12 June, he received a call at three or four o'clock in the morning from an unknown number. He tried to call the number the next day, but the man who answered denied having made the threat.

The latest phone call came on Sunday, and was followed by a text message that read: "Today is the last day you will insult people," John said.

The threats are thought to be linked to his work at Jollof News online, where John covers various Gambian political issues.

"I will try and look into security means, because I do not take this lightly," John told IPI.

Although numerous Gambian journalists have left the country as a result of death threats, John said he has no intention of fleeing. "I'm not going to leave. Every time a journalist receives a threat and leaves, I think, who is going to report here? Every job comes with risks and this is my responsibility," he said.

John believes he is at greater risk than other journalists who report for Gambian online media, many of which are based outside the country. "I'm down here, but I'm using my byline," he said.

John reported the incidents to police in the town of Serrekunda. They require a printed call history from John's telephone service provider for their investigation, but when John returned to the station today to pick up a letter from the police requesting the documents, he was told that the Serrekunda station no longer provides this service, and that he had to go to police headquarters in the capital, Banjul.

"We are gravely concerned about reports of threats against Gambian journalist Abdoulie John," said IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills, "particularly since journalists in Gambia operate under fear of death, harassment and physical harm. The police must immediately and thoroughly investigate this matter, and bring to justice those responsible for making these threats, no matter who they are."

Abdoulie John is the former deputy editor-in-chief and production manager of the government-controlled Daily Observer in Banjul, where he worked until August 2009.

John began working for the government mouthpiece in 2006, but was fired in October 2007 after he received a warning from the then-managing director, who told him to stop filing for Agence-France Presse and the Associated Press agency, John said. He was reinstated a few days after, although he did not stop filing for the agencies.

According to John, he was fired again from the Daily Observer in August 2009 because he attempted to switch the newspaper's printers - which turned out to be a political mistake. Shortly after John was forced out, the Daily Observer's managing director and ruling party member Pa Malick Faye allegedly pushed to have John detained by the Inspector General of the Gambian police, John said. He was forced to sign a handing-over note, and was released several hours later, he told IPI. That Inspector General of Police is now standing trial on charges of cocaine trafficking, according to media reports.

Jollof News, for which John reports, is an online newspaper based in Birmingham, in the United Kingdom and was founded in January 2010 by Yusupha Cham. Yusupha is the brother of Kemo Cham, who was the editor-in-chief of the government-controlled Daily Observer in Banjul until he left the country in August 2009, at the same time that John was let go.
Press Release

Gambian market updates

Artificial Shortage of Foreign Exchange Hits Gambia

The Government this week issued a stern warning to speculators and unscrupulous businesses for creating an artificial shortage of foreign currency, especially the United States Dollar thereby causing its unprecedented appreciation against the Dalasi.

As a first step, a moratorium has been placed on shipping of US Dollars out of the country with possible exception for essential importation. The local currency over the last few weeks has been under severe pressure.

The Dalasi which hitherto had been relatively stable has “year-to-date” depreciated by 11.04% against the Dollar in the parallel market.


Dalasi Interbank Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 29.25
Pound 42.25
Euro 36.25
CFA 280.00

Parallel Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 31.25
Pound 45.50
Euro 38.00
CFA 285.00

Yields move in different directions

This week saw a reversal of the downward trend in the yields of the 91-day and 182-day bills experienced by over the last six weeks.

Dropping to low of 8.82% at last week’s auction, the 91-day bill was up by 55bps to close the week at 9.37%. The 182-day bill was up 25bps to 10.45%.

The 91-day (s/s) and the 1year note were however down 18bps and 6bps to close at 10.12% and 12.80% respectively. We anticipate yields to edge northwards at next week’s auction. The amount on offer D270million next week is more than double what was offered this week.

Gambian Market Update

Treasury bill fell below 9 per cent

Yield on the 91day bill fell below 9 per cent touching lows not seen since November 2006. The bill dropped by 37bps to 8.82 per cent, and was over– subscribed by 21.80 per cent.

The 91-day (s/s) which shaved off 11bps to 10.30 per cent was over-subscribed by a massive 120 per cent. The 182-day bill lost 4bps to 10.20 per cent and was the only tenure under-subscribed at the auction. The 1-year note shed 14bps to 12.86 per cent.

Dalasi continues its decline

We remarked last week that we were surprised that the local currency appreciated in the Interbank market whilst it continued to depreciate in the Parallel market.

This week, apart from gaining 50bututs against the Euro to D37.00 in the Parallel market, the Dalasi depreciated against all the other currencies in both markets.

In the Interbank market, it lost 225bututs against the Dollar to D29.25, 275bututs against the Pound Sterling to D42.50 and 140bututs against the Euro to D36.65. The rate of depreciation was less marked in the parallel market.

The Dalasi lost 38bututs and 88bututs against Dollar and Sterling to D30.88 and D44.13 respectively.

Dalasi Interbank Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 29.25
Pound 42.50
Euro 36.65
CFA 280.00

Parallel Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 30.88
Pound 44.13
Euro 37.00
CFA 280.00

Gambia Hosts EBID Meeting

The Gambia this week played host to the 8th Annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development (Ebid).

The one day Banjul meeting availed delegates the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues as well as chart a course to make Ebid a more effective vehicle for financing the investment requirements of countries in the sub-region. Mr. Momodou S. Foon, The Gambia minister of Finance was elected as the new Chairman of the Board of Governors.

Gambian remanded over ex-wife’s killing

A Gambian national, Sheihk Saine, has been remanded by a Scottish court after been charged with murdering his wife in a Glasgow newsagents.

Sheikh Saine is accused of stabbing 33-year-old Fatou Saine to death in the McColl's shop in St Enoch Square on 1 June.

Mr Saine, 43, is alleged to have punched and bit Miss Saine and held his rucksack over her face and mouth.

Appearing in court, Sheikh Saine made no plea or declaration at Glasgow Sheriff Court and was remanded in custody.

The court heard that Mr Saine, from Greenock, Inverclyde, was on bail from Greenock Sheriff Court at the time of the incident.

He was also charged with breaching a bail condition not to approach his wife.

Gambian charged for killing ex-wife

A Gambian national, Sheikh Saine, has been charged in Scotland in connection with the death of a Greenock woman who was found dead in a city centre shop.

Fatou Saine, 33, died following an incident within McColl's newsagents, in St Enoch's Square, Glasgow, a week ago.

Law student Fatou Saine, 33, who worked in the shop and was originally from Gambia, died last week in the RS McColl store in St Enoch Square, Glasgow.

Her husband Sheikh Saine, 43, was charged yesterday in connection with her death.

As police issued the first picture of Fatou, it emerged the mum-of-one had started at Glasgow University last September, around the time she is thought to have split up with her husband.

She was working at the newsagent to support her studies.

Dr Kevin Francis, who is in charge of access courses at university, said she had been studying law and philosophy and had been offered places on full law degrees at two universities.

Fatou, originally from Gambia, was described by tutors as bright, popular and hardworking.

On her application for the course, written last summer, she wrote:

"I have a seven-year-old son and want him to see that giving up in life is not always an option and that you can always do what you set your heart to do."

Dr Francis said: "Fatou clearly held true to this vision of how a life should be lived. We send our sympathies to her son, family and friends."

Fatou and her husband lived in Greenock. She moved to Glasgow's south side after they split.
Her son is being cared for by family in the Gambia.

Sheikh Saine was taken to hospital after allegedly harming himself after the attack last Tuesday and had appeared before Glasgow Sheriff Court today.
Yesterday, a policespokesman said: "A full report will be sent to the procurator fiscal."

Gambian Market Update

Economic outlook remains positive but....
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of The Gambia in a press release on 3rd June 2010 maintained the rediscount rate at 14.0 percent. The committee stated that the outlook of The Gambian economy for the remainder of 2010 remains positive and that although inflation has began to pick up slightly, it was expected to remain in single digits. As at the end of April 2010, gross international reserves including the SDR allocations stood at US$177.63million equivalent to 7months of import cover.

Dollar Breaks Through
The Dalasi continued to depreciate in the Parallel Market although it surprisingly strengthened in the Interbank Market. In the parallel market this week, the Dalasi depreciated by 100bututs against the Dollar and was quoted at D30.50. It depreciated by 125bututs against the Pound to D43.25 and lost 50bututs to the Euro. In the Interbank Market the local currency appreciated by 188bututs against the Dollar to D27.00, up 275bututs against the Pound to D39.75 and up 75bututs against the Euro to D35.25.


Dalasi Interbank Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 27.00
Pound 39.75
Euro 35.25
CFA 285

Parallel Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 30.50
Pound 43.25
Euro 37.50
CFA 280

91-day (SS) yield unchanged
Yield on the 91day (SS) remained unchanged at 10.41% whilst the yields on all the other instruments in the money market declined when compared to last week’s close. The 91-day bill declined by 26bps to 9.19%. The 182-day bill was down 47bps to 10.24%. The 1-year note was down 21bps to 13%. For the first time in a couple of years we have an inverted yield curve with the yield on the 91-day (SS) being higher than that of the 182-day bill. The yield on the benchmark 91-day bill is touching lows not seen since the second half of year 2008. The amount on offer at next week’s tender is D150million (D55million

DPP Chenge should resign

Here we go again. When General Lang Tombong Tamba and others were arrested last November and charged for plotting to overthrow the government of Yahya Jammeh, I was expecting the state to produce concrete material evidences and facts linking the accused persons with the alleged coup plot.

However, I was disappointed. It’s been over a month since the treason trial began and no single shred of evidence is yet to be produced in court which implicates the accused persons. What we have seen so far is testimonies of state witnesses whose characters are very very questionable.

And instead of dropping all the charges against the accused persons, the state led by the director of public prosecution, Richard Chenge, is stubbornly continuing with the case. And the techniques being employed by DPP Chenge goes further to confirm the public’s fear that the whole allegations against the accused persons are nothing but a cock and bull story.

Looking at the ongoing treason trial, it is evident that the DPP in a bid to gain more recognition and promotions from President Jammeh like his predecessor Akomaye Agim, (now Chief Justice of the Gambia) have wrongly advised the state into prosecuting General Lang Tombong Tamba despite knowing fully well that the whole coup story was a figment of imagination.

Being another Nigerian smartass in our justice system, he have connived with a self-confessed drug dealer and mercenary from Guinea Bissau, Rui Jabbi Gassama, who is currently living a luxurious life at the expense of the poor Gambian tax payers to say anything that will make the whole ridiculous story about the coup look credible.

This is very shameful and unfortunate as it shows that DPP Chenge and the state are only interested in securing a conviction for the accused and not seeing justice done contrary to the principles of justice.

General Lang Tombong Tamba and his co accused

I don’t know what led to General Tamba’s removal as Chief of Defence Staff, but it is completely unfair to  detain him incommunicado at the Mile Two Prisons for seven months just because some idiots without any iota of evidence, had accused him of plotting a coup.

DPP Chenge has exposed himself as another greener pasture seeking locust in our country that is ready to manipulate every little opportunity to attract attention and recognition from President Jammeh.

General Lang Tombong Tamba is said to be the brain behind the alleged coup and I was expecting DPP Chenge to grill him extensively on the testimonies of the state witnesses. However, the DPP in his fishing expedition question General Tamba about the  March 2006 alleged coup plot. He even went further to invite one of the alleged March 2006 coupist, Captain Bunja Darboe from the Mile Two Prisons to his office just to get anything that will keep Lang Tombong and his co-accused behind bars for the rest of their lives.

Let me remind DPP Chenge that the matter before the court is a plot to overthrow the government of Yahya Jammeh in November 2009 and not March 2006. And if General Tamba was indeed involved in that plot, why was he rewarded by the state with the rank of General and Chief of the Gambia’s Armed Forces? Why is DPP Chenge trying to implicate General Tamba in a coup plot, which none of the accused persons currently serving life jail terms for their part have never implicated him in their statements to the NIA or court testimonies? Why was General Tamba not charged with offences relating to the March 2006 coup plot?

Another interesting question is why did DPP Chenge insisted in charging OB Mbye with the alleged November 2009 coup plot despite the fact that he was released by the NIA and military investigators on the grounds that there was no case against him?

If the DPP indeed had a case, why did he want to use General Tamba, the alleged chief architect of the alleged coup as a state witness?

The answer to all the above questions is simple. The DPP does not have a case against the accused persons. As a promotion seeking bastard with knowledge about the unfairness of our justice system, the DPP is only interested in getting General Tamba and others convicted for personal gains.

DPP Chenge has compromised his position and should not continue to be the chief state prosecutor. His position has become untenable.

Treason is a serious offence, and it quite unbelievable to see many people languishing in jail in the Gambia today just because someone have accused them of plotting a coup without producing any material evidence.

To conclude, I urged DPP Chenge to immediately drop all the charges against the accused persons. The accused persons have suffered immensely. Keeping them away from their families without any prove of their involvement in an alleged coup plot is nothing but criminal.

By the way, the case against General Tamba and others reminds me of the Dumo Sarho and co treason case. Mr Sarho and others were accused by Francesco Caso, an Italian Mafia in the country in June 2000 of plotting a coup.

Without having any evidence, the state led my DPP Chenge’s predecessor, Akomaye Agim (now Chief Justice) charged the accused persons with treason.

While the accused persons were suffering and being lock up in their Mile Two Prison cells for 23 hours a day, Mr Caso, who was financially bankrupt at the time after his restaurant business in Gambia failed, was rewarded with the position of training the Junglers Unit of the State Guards. He was also allocated at the tax payer’s expense, a well furnished compound in Yundum, a flashy car and an office at State House and Kanilai.

After nearly two years of sufferings, Mr Sarho and his colleagues were found not guilty by Justice Ahmed Belgore, one of the bravest, honest and hardworking judges our country has ever had. Unsurprising, Justice Belgore was never retained by the state after the expiry of his contract.


A reader’s response

A few weeks ago, I got the letter below from a Gambian living in the United Kingdom in response to my article on the Kanilai International Festival.

In the letter, the Gambian who preferred to remain anonymous due to fear of persecution back home wrote: Hello my brother, thank you for speaking the mind of Gambians. I wish we have Gambian like you and I think is time for us to put our hands on desk and help the helpless. So that God will bless our country and our loved one who are suffering in poverty. Let God touch our heart to be stewards of our nation and prepare to do what it can take to make that lovely country and community back to where it use to be.. To put the nation interest first before our own so that our grandchildren and their children will not suffer like us. Thanks and I wish you well in your endeavour.
Your fellow citizen.

By PK Jarju