Presidential hopeful and leader of The Gambia’s Economic Freedom Fighters, Prince Ebrahim Sanyang, has described Ghana as a home away from home and a model for regional integration and democratic stability.
Speaking to the Ghanaian media at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel in Accra on Sunday, Prince Sanyang said Ghana continues to set the pace for Africa in peaceful democratic transitions and economic leadership.
“Thank you very much for this hospitable welcome. Ghana is home from home. As you know, the name Ghana is actually my mother tongue. Ghana has been at the forefront of our regional integration, Ghana stands at the forefront of our regional stability. I myself have been in Ghana now for a relative period of time. As I said, it is home from home,” he said.
“What do we learn from Ghana? There is a great deal that Gambia can learn from Ghana. We have seen in recent past in areas of democracy, the transition of governments from one presidency to another. That is naturally a leapfrogging position for Ghana, peaceful transition of power. This is a very positive step, and of course, it is a worthwhile case study that others can learn from,” he added.
On economic development, the Gambian politician pointed to Ghana hosting the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a strategic positioning in a three-trillion-dollar market.
“As far as socio-economic development is concerned, Ghana has positioned itself today. We are in a three-trillion-dollar regional market, which is the AfCFTA, and the headquarters of AfCFTA is in Ghana,” he noted.
Prince Sanyang said his visit to Ghana is for consultations on governance, economy and business.
“I am here for more consultations and to learn a great deal on governance, economy, with business, and take that home with us also, and vice versa,” he said.
He also highlighted the strong security ties between the two countries, noting the presence of Ghanaian troops in The Gambia.
“I don’t know if you are aware that we have Ghanaian military in Gambia. So when I say home from home, you will see a Ghanaian military vehicle going on patrol from Burma Camp, and they feel at home in Gambia. So Gambia and Ghana, big brother and little brother, one of the same,” he said.
From Business And Traditional Leadership To Politics
Asked how his experience as a Prince and businessman shapes his political philosophy, Prince Sanyang said business taught him financial structuring and cross-border investments, while traditional leadership brought him close to community challenges, but politics offers the platform to effect national change.
“When you look at business, business sort of learns these ideas of having to understand financial structuring, cross-border investments, being able to bring about breakthrough ventures, but that limits you in areas of just business alone. As far as traditional leadership is concerned, being a community mandated individual, you engage communities day to day to know about their challenges,” he explained.
“But what politics does is it instills you in a better position to be able to decide on issues of national budgets, ensuring that we have right legislations in place for citizens, also ensuring that we are able to make sure that every single child to the last mile will be able to benefit in socio-economic development. Legislating socio-economic decisions can only be implemented when we are at the center of politics and at the center of central government, and that is the reason for this transition,” he added.
Poverty Is Not The Destiny Of Gambians
On his policy direction, the Economic Freedom Fighters leader insisted that poverty is not the destiny of Gambians or any human being, but a result of leadership failure.
“Poverty is not the destiny of any human being. It requires very holistic leadership. It requires very clear strategic frameworks to bring about opportunities that one needs to be able to take as a stepping stone to leapfrog in life. Some of the socio-economic challenges we have in the country is not the undoing of those citizens. It is leadership,” he said.
He pledged to recalibrate leadership to create jobs, attract foreign direct investment, and build a home-based competitive economy, with free education and free primary healthcare.
“You should be able to get your citizens into education for free. You should be able to ensure that they have access to primary healthcare for free. You should be able to ensure that when they finish education, they will have work and employment. And the ones that don’t go through education, you need to train them up,” he stated.
Prince Sanyang described The Gambia’s current economy as closed and constrained by a neo-colonial structure.
“Where we stand today, the country is a closed economy. So naturally, you would expect poverty. We will ensure that all those economic fundamentals, socio-economic fundamentals that we missed since independence are brought back. Currently, we have a glass ceiling, which is a neo-colonial structure. We need to look at today, 2026 Gambia, to ensure that it fits the needs of our socio-economic needs for the citizens,” he said.
