By Tombong Saidy,
Africa-Press – Gambia. From 16th June to 6th July, 2025, I had the extraordinary honour of representing The Gambia at the Seminar on Governance System and Modernisation for “Belt and Road” Countries, held at Zhejiang Normal University in Jinhua City, China.
What I expected was a learning opportunity. What I experienced was a transformation.
This seminar brought together participants from across Africa — Kenya, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Uganda, South Africa, Mauritania, and The Gambia. Through lectures, field visits, and high-level exchanges, we gained firsthand insight into China’s development model — its challenges, its discipline, and, above all, its results.
Some would ask Why China’s experience matters? For many African countries, The Gambia included, progress is often stalled by weak institutions, implementation paralysis, and entrenched patronage. These are not new problems. China, too, struggled with poverty, corruption, and stagnation just a few decades ago. Yet today, it stands as a global economic force, having lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty, expanded infrastructure at breathtaking scale, and built a governance system rooted in long-term planning and accountability.
What is the key message? We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We need to learn from what works and adapt — not adopt — those lessons to fit our unique Gambian reality.
What we saw: Practical lessons with real impact; policy meets practice.
What impressed me most is how seriously China enforces its policies. Whether in anti-corruption, education, rural development, or infrastructure, they ensure that what is promised is delivered. The Gambia on the other hand have excellent policy documents; what we lack is implementation. Enforcement must match intention.
Poverty alleviation through investment, not aid as demonstrated in several counties.
In Wuyi County, once among China’s poorest regions, we saw rural revival powered by skills training, access to capital, and investment in local enterprise. We must prioritise vocational training, modernise agriculture, and turn rural areas into engines of growth.
Technology is used as a catalyst
China leverages digital tools for governance — from rural e-commerce platforms to AI-driven public services. The Gambia can achieve similar progress by investing in digital IDs, mobile money, and e-governance systems — even on a modest budget.
Meritocracy in the civil service is not acceptable.
The Chinese civil service system is based on rigorous exams, moral training, and performance-based promotion. It is a system that values result over relationships. We need urgent civil service reform to eliminate political patronage and build a competent, accountable workforce.
Don’t copy, contextualise
China’s system isn’t perfect, nor should we attempt to replicate it wholesale. But its core principles — discipline, merit, planning, and grassroots accountability — are universally relevant. What The Gambia needs is the political will to learn, adapt, and act.
Coming up in this series
This article is the first in a five-part series titled “Lessons from China – A Gambian Perspective.” Over the next few weeks, I will explore how specific Chinese governance strategies can inform The Gambia’s development journey.
These will include:
Merit Over Patronage – How to reform Gambia’s civil service
From Aid to Trade – A Gambian blueprint for poverty reduction
Digital Gambia – How technology can fix our bureaucracy
Common Prosperity – What The Gambia can learn from the Belt and Road vision.
The solutions are there. The models are tested. The challenge now lies with us. Do we have the courage to change?
Mr Tombong Saidy is the senior administrative secretary for media and communication for the United Democratic Party. He was selected by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to represent The Gambia at the 2025 Seminar on Governance System and Modernisation for “Belt and Road” Countries in Jinhua City, China.
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