Claim: The Finance Ministry has signed a $11 billion funding agreement with AfDB and UNESCO to support SMEs.
Verdict: False. Checks by DUBAWA revealed that The Gambia’s Finance Ministry has not signed a $11 billion funding agreement with AfDB and UNESCO to support SOEs.
Full Text
A Facebook user with the profile of Seedy MK Keiita claimed that the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs in The Gambia posted on Facebook that the finance ministry has signed $11 billion with AfDB (African Development Bank Group) and UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to support Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) countrywide. He also attached a form to be filled out by interested business owners and companies.
The author claimed that the goal is to advance a more inclusive, diversified, and resilient private sector that creates sustainable wealth.
Since the post was made on March 14, 2024, it has generated about 1.7k likes and 313 comments on Facebook as of March 19, 2024.
The comment section had different views on the post’s authenticity; some raised concerns about potential scam attempts, while others complimented the minister for what they described as a major achievement for the country.
One Facebook user, Tunde Lamidi, commented, “This is a scam. The form on the link doesn’t lead to a government document. These fraudsters are impersonating the Hon. Minister. Be careful fellas!”
Abdoulie Ceesay also commented, “Fake,” while Alh Mansali Fatty said, “Be mindful of SCAMMERS.”
On the other hand, Foday Touray said, “With all the support the government is giving to the business owners, our lives and living conditions will never change. Commodities are skyrocketing, lol.”
Lamin Jadama said, “Very impressive! Keep up the amazing work, and keep doing your best. We are proud of you, sir.”
Verification
To start with the verifications, DUBAWA analysed the picture accompanied by the claim to a Google Reverse Image Search. The findings indicate the following people were the personalities in the picture. From the left, Seedy Keita, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs of the Republic of The Gambia, Jutta Urpilainen. EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, and Thomas Ostros, EIB Vice-President.
The picture was taken on March 7, 2023, at the signing of a New Global Gateway grant of €24 million from the European Union to accelerate The Gambia Renewable Energy Project implementation.
DUBAWA further contacted the Ministry of Finance to clarify the issue.
Our researcher spoke to Ebrima S. Jallow, Former Communication Officer of the Ministry, who recently moved to The Gambia’s Judiciary.
He debunked the claim and urged people to disregard it.
“The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs has not signed any $11 billion funding agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to support SMEs,” Jallow said.
He added, “This is false and malicious, and the Ministry has nothing to do with this post. Regrettably, these kinds of fake news are growing and frequently making online rounds. We wish to clarify that the Ministry has not entered into any such agreement with the African Development Bank nor agreed to fund SMEs with UNESCO.”
Our researcher also contacted UNESCO, and the regional director, Dr Dimitri Sanga, denied the claims.
“There is no such funding from UNESCO,” he said.
Conclusion
Based on the information we had from the research, the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs doesn’t use the Facebook account. Here is his original Facebook, which he shared with our researcher. The minister has disregarded the other accounts and does not run it.
The claim that The Gambia Ministry of Finance has signed a funding agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and UNESCO of about $11 billion is false.
