EU to give 'virtually bankrupt' Gambia 225m euros

The European Union announced aid worth 225 million euros for The Gambia on Thursday as President Adama Barrow warned that the nation was “virtually bankrupt” due to economic mismanagement by the former regime.

Gambian President said in a speech at the signing of the aid deal that The Gambia had just two months of foreign exchange reserves left, claiming that the Gambian economy is virtually bankrupt and in need of immediate rescue.

The EU froze assistance to The Gambia in December 2014 over the dire human rights record of ex-president Yahya Jammeh, whose security services were accused by rights groups of extrajudicial killings, torture and forced disappearances.

Barrow’s victory over Jammeh in December’s election is seen by foreign donors as a new chance for human rights and the rule of law to be better respected in the tiny west African nation.

Jammeh is accused by Gambians of land grabs and taking over businesses for his personal gain, while new Interior Minister Mai Fatty alleged last month the ex-president took 11 million USD from state coffers before heading for exile in Equatorial Guinea.