According to the Bank’s website, the Building Resilience for Inclusive Development and Growth of Enterprises (BRIDGE) is an institutional support project. This is a grant of UA 1,000,000 (One Million Units of Account) from the resources of the Transition Support Facility Pillar III. The BRIDGE project aims to address these barriers by strengthening institutional frameworks and building the capacity of women and youth entrepreneurs, particularly in climate-smart practices. This will foster a more inclusive and resilient private sector, improve livelihoods, promote gender equality, and support economic growth. Key outputs include improving financial access through the Women Enterprise Fund, aligning export strategies with market demands, and streamlining business services through digital platforms. Capacity-building efforts—such as tailored training, mentorship, and support for rural business associations—will empower over 1,200 entrepreneurs. The project assumes continued government support for gender empowerment and resilience against sociocultural barriers in rural areas. Given the project’s scale with modest budget, the intended impact will focus on building institutional capacity and supporting a defined subgroup of entrepreneurs with strong growth potential. Rather than aiming for broad national-level economic transformation, the Project is designed to deliver targeted, feasible support that can realistically strengthen business development services and enable selected entrepreneurs to scale up and create new jobs. It will be implemented by the existing Central Project Coordinating Unit (CPCU) within MoFEA. The proposed project has three components, namely, (i) Strengthening the Institutional Framework for Private Sector, (ii) Capacity building for women and youth entrepreneurs in rural Gambia, and (iii) Project Management.

The project development objective is to enhance private sector development in The Gambia by strengthening the institutional framework and creating a supportive business environment, particularly for women and youth entrepreneurs. This will be achieved through strengthening institutions that are critical players in the private sector ecosystem, namely, the GCCI, GIEPA and WEF. As a three-component project, the first component will focus on supporting the institutional capabilities and objectives of these three entities and the second part will concurrently address capacity building for rural women and youth by conducting training needs assessments, implementing entrepreneurship training programs, climate risk management and climate smart techniques for agripreneurs, and facilitating trade missions and competitions. The third component is project management. Collectively, these efforts are designed to empower marginalized groups, stimulate economic growth, and foster a more inclusive and resilient economy.

Environmental Category: [3] Low Risk

The Project has been classified as a Category 3 Project. The operation of this Project does not directly or indirectly adversely affect the environment and is unlikely to induce adverse social impacts as is characteristic of low-risk projects under the Bank’s ISS. Thus, the categorization of this Project is in line with both The Gambia country system and the Bank’s Integrated Safeguards System (ISS).

This is a grant of UA 1,000,000 (One Million Units of Account) from the resources of the Transition Support Facility Pillar III.

Financial Instrument: Fragile State Facility - Pillar 3
Commitments (UA): 1,000,000
Conversion Rate USD (2025-08-25): 1,33633
Total Project Cost: 1,000,000

Name: Mamoru ENDO
Email: m.endo@afdb.org

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/request-for-documents. Under the AfDBs Disclosure and Access to Information policy, if you feel the Bank has omitted to publish information or your request for information is unreasonably denied, you can file an appeal at https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/appeals-process.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF AfDB

The Independent Review Mechanism (IRM), which is administered by the Compliance Review and Mediation Unit (CRMU), is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an African Development Bank (AfDB)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the IRM, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a dispute resolution dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the AfDB complied with its policies to prevent environmental and social harms. You can submit a complaint electronically by emailing crmuinfo@afdb.org, b.kargougou@afdb.org, b.fall@afdb.org, and/or s.toure@afdb.org. You can learn more about the IRM and how to file a complaint at: https://www.afdb.org/en/independent-review-mechanism/