Gambia’s Barrow Pledges Electricity Improvements After Protests

Gambian President Adama Barrow has pledged to improve electricity supplies by the end of October after violent protests over prolonged blackouts. Parts of the country have suffered from rolling outages since June, with some areas experiencing blackouts for up to 48 hours. In protest, demonstrators in Banjul and nearby cities set fires, blocked traffic, and demanded the president’s resignation. Barrow described the crisis as a national security emergency and said an additional 24-megawatt generation machine would be commissioned by the end of October. He also announced that a 50-megawatt solar power plant in Soma had been awarded and is on track to begin construction. The protests come just months before December elections, in which Barrow is seeking a third term. The country’s utility company attributed the outages to surging demand and constraints on electricity imports.