Gambia Gets $1.7 Billion in Funding Pledges to Reform Economy

(Bloomberg) -- International donors committed 1.45 billion euros ($1.7 billion) over three years to Gambia to help the West African nation’s new government revive the economy and strengthen democratic institutions.

The donations, pledged at a conference co-hosted by the European Union, included funds from the African Development Bank, the World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank. The EU committed 140 million euros in grants.

Gambian President Adama Barrow defeated ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh, who ruled for 22 years, in elections in December 2016. The funds pledged this week will help cover the needs identified for donor support in the country’s 2018-2021 national-development plan.

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