By Fatoumatta Gassama
The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy on Wednesday April 24 sensitised stakeholders on the importance and protection of energy, held at Kairaba Beach Hotel in Kololi.
Fafa Sanyang Minster of Petroleum and Energy said that this podium will help to promote the protection of energy investment and energy security at the energy market while also safeguarding national sovereignty over natural resources.
He added that The Gambia was granted observer status at the energy charter conference and that the country has also adopted the international energy charter in August 2017 which declared its political will to join with many other countries in strengthening global energy cooperation.
Sanyang pointed out that The Gambia has an opened market and liberal trade policy that emboldened and protects investment, adding “we have made progressive reforms to attract private sector investment in the energy sector such as the liberalization of electricity generation and petroleum products meaningful”
Minister Sanyang further added that there is need for enchantment of the existing policies and strategies aligning them with the international practices in order to attract the much needed investment in the country.
He commended the energy charter secretary under the leadership of Dr Urban Rusnak for the support provided to The Gambia while also renewing his Ministry readiness and dedication to the energy charter process.
Josselin Amalfi, European Union representative said in The Gambia average number of people lived without access to electricity and the basis benefits and opportunities it provides noting that many people used wood charcoal and transitional biomass for cooking fuel and this make the challenges linked to the energy remained immense.
He added that EU has allocated 20 million euro worth of grants in support of sustainable energy up to 2020,and EU will continued to stand alongside with The Gambia.
