Importance

1. Importance of the sector

Environment in Gambia's statutes is defined as "the physical factors of the surroundings of the human being including land, water, atmosphere, climate, sound, odour, taste, the biological factors of fauna and flora and the social factor of aesthetics and includes both the natural and the built environment." This definition is quite overwhelming and all-encompassing, and given that the different elements—such as land, flora, and others—have been treated separately in other sector documents, a relatively narrow but clear and crisp treatment of environmental issues has been adopted for the purpose of this document.

Environment is a cross-cutting subject that impacts and is impacted by other sectors such as tourism, land, forestry, health, and agriculture, among others. In line with PPA's policy of "killing many birds with one stone," handling each of these sectors well could have positive ramifications on the management of the environment and vice versa. For example, properly implemented environmental policy must entail the conservation of fauna and flora. When integrated into a well-conceived tourism policy, this will result in more employment, thus solving unemployment issues, which in turn will lead to improved socio-economic development. When people's wellbeing improves, they have more time and resources to take care of the environment and the future, showing the cyclic nature of well-conceived and implemented policy and the effectiveness of PPA's policy of "killing many birds with one stone."

2. . Current state of the environment in The Gambia?

Like most sectors, the absence of an in-depth understanding of the issues relating to the environment and lack of coherent and comprehensive vision to properly deal with them at the top means there may be institutional nomenclatures, beautiful legislations, and occasional mentions of the importance of environment, but the reality is that the environment these institutions and structures are meant to manage is in a very bad state. Consequently, the common citizen lives in an environment that is not organized or healthy, continues to degrade by the day, and is critically walking into a bleak future. Common symptoms of structural failures over the last couple of years include frequent fights between central government and local authorities and attempts to degazette forests.

2.1. Institutional Framework

It was in 1981 that the government first created an Environment Unit under the then Ministry of Natural Resources to coordinate matters relating to the environment. This unit morphed into what is today the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources. It is supposed to be the apex authority responsible for the formulation of policy and setting of direction for the sector. With population growth and increased awareness of the importance of the environment, the government in 1994 set up the National Environment Agency (NEA) to coordinate the implementation of the Gambian Environment Action Plan (GEAP).

Key to the success of any such policy environment will be the collaboration and coordination between central and local authorities, civil society, and the relevant communities. However, instead of the central government working with local authorities, the two are constantly in politically driven conflict. Examples include the frequent tussles between the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) and Brikama Area Council (BAC) and the government over environmental issues.

2.2. Legal Framework

Like other sectors, there is no shortage of policies. As early as the 1970s, policies such as The Banjul Declaration have been developed. This particular instrument called for action to address environmental and natural resource management issues. In 1992, the programme of environmental and natural resource management entitled Gambia Environmental Action Plan (GEAP) was adopted to promote sustainable environment and natural resources management. In 2003, The National Communication of The Republic of The Gambia on The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was developed. The National Environment Act (NEMA 1994) and the Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides Control and Management Act, 1994, were also developed to guide the management and protection of our environment, while the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations adopted in 2014 is a key operationalization instrument of the NEMA. Obviously, these legislations are obsolete and not fit for purpose. Indeed, this weakness is recognized by the authorities. However, due to weak leadership and lack of seriousness, efforts to amend the NEMA and some of the subsequent regulations since 2018 remain fruitless, with no clear visibility on their completion.

current state

Intervention

3. How well is the government managing the sector?

The current government's approach to the energy sector leaves much to be desired. With the help of the World Bank, a well-articulated energy sector strategy (Strategic Roadmap 2021-2040) was developed. However, the execution of that energy roadmap has been bungled. As a result, the document's goal of universal electricity access in The Gambia by 2025 is significantly off-target. Electricity access remains limited, its supply is highly unreliable, it is expensive for average households and businesses, and an unreformed NAWEC remains a financial drain on the country's limited resources.

  1. Distribution without generation: The most visible of the government's attempts to address energy solutions has been the expansion of the distribution network by connecting numerous rural areas to the electricity grid. However, increasing connections without a corresponding increase in generation capacity is effectively putting the cart before the horse. After all, electrical wiring alone does not produce electricity to be consumed by households and businesses.

  2. Unsustainable power purchase agreement (PPA): Instead of investing in generation, the government has been purchasing power from external sources. This has entailed purchasing electricity from Senegal and Karpowership (a Turkish company that sells electricity from a floating ship). The PPA from Karpowership has been financially ruinous for the nation. Since 2018, the country has been annually paying more than US$30 million to Karpowership for 30MW of electricity. This PPA has continued for at least seven years, which means that the country has paid more than US$200 million. This may be the worst PPA arrangement for any country on record. The amount spent could have built a 200MW power plant in the country, which could generate power to supply every single household in the country. During this period, local energy generation actually fell below the level it was under the Yahya Jammeh regime.

    While not as detrimental as the Karpowership PPA, the importation of electricity from Senegal is also unsustainable. The country currently imports 50MW of electricity. The main problem is that the government (through NAWEC) does not have an arrangement in place to ensure that this importation is affordable. The country is currently four months behind schedule in paying Senegal for the power. This exposes the country to significant risk should Senegal demand overdue payments.

  3. Expensive and limited use of LPG: The energy situation is also characterized by limited use of LPG, known as cooking gas. The use of this energy source is constrained due to the lack of an implemented government strategy. Cooking gas in The Gambia is expensive—twice as high as in Senegal. The major reason for the high cost of LPG is the low storage capacity. There is currently storage capacity of only about 1,000 metric tonnes, which is too low for the country. As a result, there are no economies of scale, and consumers face high prices. There is also a distribution problem with a fragmented market and only a few outlets.

  4. Unreformed NAWEC: A major problem in the energy sector has been the poor management of NAWEC. All previous reform attempts have failed due to leadership failures at the institution itself and at the central government level. This national utility company has been one of the biggest sources of debt burden for the country. While there may be good justification for some of the loans that ended up on the central government's balance sheet, many of them have simply been misused due to an entrenched culture of corruption. For instance, millions of dalasi are lost annually through invoice mispricing in transactions with vendors. Payment amounts for power purchase agreements are frequently inflated, with senior officials pocketing the differences. Procurement contracts are often awarded at inflated costs to connected individuals and businesses. Equipment and fuel are frequently stolen at NAWEC facilities without any consequences.

4. PPA’s Solutions

Our party's goal for the country is energy abundance and energy security. This would require that energy is safe, accessible, reliable, and affordable for every household and business.

  1. Major reform of NAWEC and Energy Policy: The PPA leadership understands that previous attempts at reforming NAWEC have been half-hearted and unserious. Those failed reforms were frequently initiated and controlled by the very management and policymakers who caused the problems. It is therefore not surprising that this state-owned enterprise (SOE) has remained financially weak and operationally moribund. Real reform at NAWEC requires new leadership not only at NAWEC but also at the top level of the executive. Policy-level reform would entail the separation of energy and petroleum by removing them from a single ministry. At the NAWEC level, reforms would entail separating generation from transmission and distribution. It would also include separating electricity and water into separate entities.

  2. Increasing generation capacity: None of the important targets for the energy sector can be achieved without adequate local energy generation. However, this requires investments by the private sector in the form of independent power producers (IPPs). The country currently has no IPP with a local power plant under a long-term PPA. The main reason is that the current government has failed to improve the country's investment climate to incentivize such long-term, risky investments. Indeed, beyond investments financed by multilateral banks and donors, all activities that rely on the government are well behind schedule. The PPA-led government would target the installation of new power plants within the first year and doubling the generation capacity within three years. This would require improving our investment climate and attracting local and foreign investors as independent power producers.

  3. Increasing access to LPG: The PPA leadership understands that the energy problem faced by the average Gambian household, particularly in cooking, must be urgently addressed. Beyond the direct financial cost, the indirect costs through environmental destruction and health issues demand urgent action. The first action entails expanding the storage capacity at Mandinaring. This would allow LPG prices in The Gambia to fall to a level that would be financially more affordable than charcoal or firewood. The distribution system would also need to be improved. One effective way to enhance gas accessibility is to refocus the downstream market interventions of the Gambia National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) away from solely marketing petrol. This means adding the marketing and distribution of LPG to households to its portfolio. The current locations of GNPC petrol stations would help increase gas accessibility to a greater number of households that need the product. The goal of GNPC's entrance into the market is to complement existing suppliers to enhance access.

  4. Development of bio-fuel: This is an energy source that serves as an alternative to fuel wood and is quite sustainable. It also has great potential in the Gambian context. The country is a significant grower of groundnuts and rice. Groundnut shells and rice husks are both key ingredients for briquette making for bio-fuel. Since these are grown annually, there is a sustainable supply of these inputs. Furthermore, their development and use would enable the shift away from fuelwood (charcoal and firewood), which are significant sources of deforestation and environmental degradation. The PPA-led government will provide incentives for development of the bio-fuel sector through financial incentives and capacity building to ensure a commercially viable bio-fuel market in the country.

solutions

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