The Minister for Communications and Digital Economy’s briefing to the National Assembly this week marks one of the most significant developments in the long-delayed restructuring of Gamtel and Gamcel. With negotiations underway for a D6.7 billion investment package, the government is clearly eager to portray the process as a bold step toward modernizing The Gambia’s national telecoms backbone.
But behind the numbers and official optimism lies the uncomfortable reality: unless the government confronts its own history of mismanagement, political interference, and opaque decision-making, this restructuring risks becoming yet another costly cycle of failure for state-owned enterprises.
A Restructuring Built on Human Cost
Minister Lamin Jabbi confirmed that 486 employees were already compensated, costing taxpayers D210.6 million, while another 155 staff will follow by December, with D29 million already approved. These are not mere statistics — they represent livelihoods uprooted because the government allowed these companies to decay for years.
Rather than being a sign of reform, the scale of the layoffs is a stark indictment of leadership that failed to protect and empower its workforce until collapse became the only option.
A Massive Investment Deal, But Little Transparency
According to the Minister, Y-Cell has emerged as the preferred bidder for an 80% majority stake in Gamcel, proposing a D6.7 billion investment. The government expects D800 million in immediate revenue, with the remainder going toward network upgrades.
Yet critical questions remain unanswered:
- How was Y-Cell evaluated, and why did it outperform DK Telecoms?
- What safeguards exist to protect national interests once 80% of Gamcel becomes privately controlled?
- How will the D6.7 billion be disbursed and audited?
- What lessons were learned from past PPP debacles involving state utilities?
Public trust demands more than Cabinet approvals — it requires transparency, documentation, and independent oversight.
Gamtel’s Rehabilitation via a Build-Operate-Transfer Model
The approval of Ciceroid Limited in a PPP framework to rehabilitate Gamtel’s infrastructure marks another major shift. The build-operate-transfer model could, in theory, modernize aging systems without straining the national budget.
But Gambians have seen too many poorly negotiated PPPs — from energy to telecoms — that created dependency, revenue leakages, or worse, long-term national vulnerabilities. A modernized Gamtel is necessary; a compromised one is dangerous.
Government Debt to Gamtel/Gamcel Exposes Deeper Structural Dysfunction
Perhaps the most revealing detail from the Minister’s briefing is the admission that government institutions owe the two companies over D200 million.
How can the state demand efficiency and modernization from its enterprises while suffocating them with unpaid bills?
This arrear problem is not new — it is symptomatic of a government that treats SOEs as extensions of the state treasury rather than entities that must function independently and sustainably.
Valuation Committees Are Not Enough
The Minister emphasized that the valuation was done by a multi-stakeholder government committee. But committees, no matter how diversified, cannot compensate for a process lacking independent external audits, public disclosures, and parliamentary scrutiny at each stage.
A deal of this scale — involving national telecom assets — must not be left in the hands of bureaucratic panels whose reports never see the light of day.
The Real Test: Will Government Finally Step Back?
If the restructuring of Gamtel and Gamcel is to succeed, the government must abandon the habits that drove these institutions into decline:
- political interference in management
- opaque procurement practices
- neglect of infrastructure
- delayed payments for services used by government agencies
- poor financial discipline
Investment alone cannot cure institutional culture. Only leadership can.
Conclusion: A Turning Point or Another Misstep?
The government wants Gambians to see the D6.7 billion investment package as a leap toward a digital future. But without transparency, accountability, and genuine governance reform, it could become just another expensive chapter in a long history of state failure.
Modernization is necessary — but modernization without accountability is merely restructuring the symptoms while ignoring the disease.
The National Assembly, civil society, and the public must demand more than promises. They must demand proof, oversight, and results.
