The Government of The Gambia on Friday 29th September 2006, signed an agreement with a German company (GMS) to take over the management of the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) for a period of five years.

Mambureh Njie, Secretary General, Office of the President signed on behalf of The Gambia government; Momodou Jallow, the Acting Director of Nawec signed on behalf of his company and Muhammed Bazzi, Managing Director of the Global Management System signed on behalf of his office.

Speaking at the signing ceremony President Yahya Jammeh said his goverment has invested more than US$ 37M on NAWEC without success. President Jammeh stated that he had on several occasions made pronouncements that the electricity problem would be history in this country only for some people to prove him wrong by doing things which hindered the progress of electricity in this country. “That being the case, Global Management System will completely take over the management of NAWEC with regards to electricity generation and management of power stations. It is still a national company. It is not privatisation and I want that to be very clear. By virtue of this contract they are employees of The Gambia Government. What we want is hundred per cent supply of electricity which is affordable and reliable. Regular flow of electricity is a key determinant for potential investors and in the absence of electricity development projects are at a halt”.

President Jammeh also suggested to the Global Management System to connect one thousand customers to the electricity and water at least every month. He thanks edGMS for accepting the challenge.

Muhammed Bazzi the Managing Director of GMS expressed optimism that electricity problems will soon be a thing of the past.

Bazzi said by the end of October three generators will arrive, one of which will be given to NAWEC as a soft loan for a period of three years. He said his office is working on expanding their network to cater for new customers. Under this agreement and in a bid to provide interrupted electricity supply the Global Management System hired a lead consultant to provide reliable, affordable and efficient power supply to the consumers.