{"id":91551,"date":"2025-12-08T15:30:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T15:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/gdp-growth-meaningless-without-social-progress-says-umc"},"modified":"2025-12-08T16:52:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T16:52:29","slug":"gdp-growth-meaningless-without-social-progress-says-umc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gdp-growth-meaningless-without-social-progress-says-umc","title":{"rendered":"GDP Growth Meaningless Without Social Progress Says UMC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>The spokesperson for the Unite Movement for Change (UMC), Kemo Bojang, has criticized The Gambia\u2019s reported economic growth, arguing that increases in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) hold little value if they do not translate into real improvements in people\u2019s lives.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u201cA growth in GDP when it doesn\u2019t have a direct impact on the lives of the people is colonial mercantilist,\u201d Bojang said, adding that the country\u2019s economic system remains largely outside the control of ordinary Gambians.<\/p>\n<p>He stressed that genuine development must be comprehensive, extending beyond economic indicators to include progress in health, education, and social equity. Citing economist Amartya Sen, Bojang noted that development should expand citizens\u2019 capabilities and freedoms, not just measure material wealth.<\/p>\n<p>Bojang urged the World Bank to adopt a more balanced approach to assessing development, warning against what he described as an overemphasis on GDP figures. \u201cThe World Bank must do the same so the masses do not fall for the over-sophistication of development,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>According to Bojang, a people-centered understanding of development is essential. \u201cDevelopment should be assessed less by material wealth, and more by the well-being and substantive freedoms and capabilities people have to lead the lives they value,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In light of the current economic realities, Bojang described the country\u2019s GDP growth as \u201cmeaningless,\u201d pointing to the persistent hardships faced by ordinary citizens. \u201cThe increase in GDP, while Gambians continue to suffer, the Dalasi continues to depreciate, and living conditions are becoming tougher, is meaningless to you and me,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Gambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. The spokesperson for the Unite Movement for Change (UMC), Kemo Bojang, has criticized The Gambia\u2019s reported economic growth, arguing that increases in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) hold little value if they do not translate into real improvements in people\u2019s lives. \u201cA growth in GDP when it doesn\u2019t have a direct impact on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":91550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-91551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>GDP Growth Meaningless Without Social Progress Says UMC - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The spokesperson for the Unite Movement for Change (UMC), Kemo Bojang, has criticized The Gambia\u2019s reported economic ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gdp-growth-meaningless-without-social-progress-says-umc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GDP Growth Meaningless Without Social Progress Says UMC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The spokesperson for the Unite Movement for Change (UMC), Kemo Bojang, has criticized The Gambia\u2019s reported economic ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gdp-growth-meaningless-without-social-progress-says-umc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-08T15:30:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-08T16:52:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765199980.791768.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1844\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1111\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gdp-growth-meaningless-without-social-progress-says-umc#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gdp-growth-meaningless-without-social-progress-says-umc\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"GDP Growth Meaningless Without Social Progress Says UMC\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-08T15:30:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-08T16:52:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gdp-growth-meaningless-without-social-progress-says-umc\"},\"wordCount\":276,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gdp-growth-meaningless-without-social-progress-says-umc#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765199980.791768.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gdp-growth-meaningless-without-social-progress-says-umc#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gdp-growth-meaningless-without-social-progress-says-umc\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gdp-growth-meaningless-without-social-progress-says-umc\",\"name\":\"GDP Growth Meaningless Without Social Progress Says UMC - 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