Travel To Gambia: Banjul Airport & Port of Banjul
Adjoining the airport modernisation project is another $11
million effort to create the phase one Airport Export Processing
Zone under the Trade Gateway Initiative. With attractive inducement
packages, the airport is expected to capitalise on the country's
strategic location and aid the movement of goods between Europe
(five and a half hours away), America (seven and a half hours)
and the West African sub-region, which is only about one to
five hours of air travel from Banjul.
The Banjul International Airport is already one of the best
in the sub-region, crowning which it has been pronounced as
a safe and secure destination by the Assessment Administration
of the U. S. A. after satisfying international requirements
(June 2000). Now, there are direct flights between New York
and Banjul, with an Open Sky Agreement with American aviation
authorities, Banjul airport hopes to attract more international
flights. "Our airport is under utilised", Mr. Edward
Singateh, State Secretary for Works and Communication laments.
Blessed with the second longest runway in West Africa, a proximity
to regional markets and facilities that keep it a shoulder
above the sub-regional competition. Banjul International Airport
truly deserves increased traffic.
The Gambia International Airlines (GIA) has signed an agreement
with Namibia Airlines for the use of one the latter’s
aircraft to ply the relatively untapped sub-regional market.
According to Mamsait Jallow, Director General of Gambia Civil
Aviation Authority (GCAA), intergovernmental efforts to liberalise
air space, facilitate exchange of traffic rights, harmonise
regulations and standards as well as set seal on agreements
to standardize air service agreements will cause an unprecedented
opening-up of a market of 270 million.
Jallow states that the GCAA is positioning the Banjul Airport
to take advantage of the imminent windfall, "we see ourselves
as an airport that is in international business and to increase
our national capacity, we have to develop a strategy of making
this airport a hub which would rely on international connections
and transits. So this is what directs our activities in gunning
for the standards that would give us the recognition and renown,
and that would eventually make us achieve our goal".
The Banjul airport remains an integral component in The Gambia's
motion towards economic development and efforts to improve
it have been yielding dividends. Since 1991 till date, passenger
volume has doubled to 300,000 a year and aircrafts movements
increased to 6000 from 2,500. Cargo troopers are also enjoying
an annual growth of 10%. The GCAA is also going into commercial,
non-aeronautical investments like the Duty-free shops and
investments in the Trade gateway initiative.
Another equally important centrepiece to The Gambia’s
desire for prosperity is its seaport, around which the free
export zones revolve. The Gambia Ports Authority (GPA) is
already a lighthouse in the sub-region. Blessed with a collaborative
Customs department, which is its selling block, the GPA offers
vessels and traders a rapid, efficient and competitively priced
turnaround service in less than 24 hours. Elsewhere, such
efficiency is a difficult dream. Ibrahima Jagana, Managing
Director of the Gambia Ports Authority, best explains the
driving spirit. "The port is a competitive feature of
the Gambia, we are thinking big as we aim to become a regional
hub. What Singapore is able to achieve, The Gambia has the
potential to achieve too."
Founded with a commercial orientation, the Banjul seaport
has witnessed series of modernisation efforts, which has more
than doubled its jetty. As it prepares to take the lead in
the Trade Gateway initiative, the GPA is working to fulfil
its corporate mission "to excel as a leading marinating
centre for trade and logistics," by creating free port
facilities around the port in order to encourage value-added
activities and enhance the competitive advantage of the country
in handling export trade. An earlier Bonded Warehousing Project
done as a pilot project to the free-export zones is a huge
success. "Three bonded warehouses covering 9000 square
meters were constructed, all of which have been occupied,"
says Jagana.
Other bilateral projects, agreements and inter-port co-operation
would see the Banjul port increase in efficiency. On the continent,
cooperation with the ports of Ghana, Senegal, Cape Verde,
South Africa and Port Nec will enhance the development of
trade and transfer of technology. Others overseas like Taichung
Ports and Harbours of Taiwan and the Ports of Houston, Texas,
USA, will help bolster its international credentials. Discussions
with the world’s second largest ocean fleet, Evergreen
Lines of Taiwan could, if and when it materializes, make Gambia
the second country in Africa covered by Evergreen. This should
enhance and improve export movement to all parts of Asia and
create a superb window for West African goods in that part
of the world.
Gambia’s telecommunications industry, noted for its
efficiency, would gain a boost next year when the GSM system,
operated by ALCATEL, comes into full swing. According to Bakary
Njie, Managing Director of state owned Gambia Telecommunication
Company (GAMTEL), ALCATEL is also involved in the network
extension of the subscriber base, presently at 20,000 to 50,000
lines by year 2001,thus complementing its efficiency index.
In the sub-region, only GAMTEL could boast of a 60 percent
call completion rate. A well-run and highly profitable enterprise,
it is listed to pioneer the divestiture programme. About 50
out of government-held 99 percent shares could be for sale
as early as 2001, the company’s net profit for 1999 was
US$ 3 million.
There is a growing emphasis on increasing the national access
to Information Technology. A number of Internet cafes dot
the streets of the urban areas, facilitated by GAMTEL’s
easy approval procedures. With a reasonable cost of internet
facilities and an absence of taxes or duties on IT-related
materials, The Gambia hopes to surf happily on the waves of
information technology. The challenge, according to Mr. Njie,
is to take the facilities to the rural areas and "put
the country on a strong backbone of information."
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