For decades, Gambian accountants have been seen as guardians of numbers — diligent custodians of balance sheets and auditors of financial discipline. But a new generation of finance leaders is now redefining that role, positioning accounting at the heart of the country’s sustainability and climate agenda.
One of them is Momodou S. Fatty, the Head of Finance at the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC), who represents a growing school of thought that believes finance is as central to environmental resilience as it is to profit and loss.
The Future CFO Podcast host, Ebrima Sawaneh recently sat with Mr Fatty to discuss Sustainability in the Gambia.
From Ledgers to Low-Carbon Thinking
Fatty’s own career reflects The Gambia’s evolving finance landscape. Having begun in internal audit and banking before moving into development and the public sector, he has witnessed firsthand how financial decisions ripple far beyond balance sheets.
At NAWEC, he has been working to embed sustainability into core operations — from how budgets are designed to how projects are evaluated and financed. The company’s latest budgeting process, for instance, introduces a dedicated line for sustainability spending — a move that may seem technical but signals a wider shift in how Gambian institutions think about environmental accountability.
“Finance,” he says, “is the engine room of every sustainability effort.”
The ESG Wake-Up Call
The conversation around sustainability in The Gambia is no longer confined to NGOs and environmental agencies. Increasingly, it’s becoming a boardroom discussion — and in some cases, a financial one.
NAWEC’s leadership has begun integrating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations into project appraisals and performance reviews. The idea is simple but powerful: if the company can understand its environmental footprint early, it can prevent both reputational and financial losses later.
In Fatty’s view, some of the financial impairments that commercial banks have absorbed in the past — whether through failed projects or social disputes — could have been avoided had ESG assessment tools like ESIA have been part of the decision-making process from the outset.
Policy Shifts and the IFRS Horizon
The global accounting world is also pushing The Gambia in this direction. The new IFRS S1 and S2 standards, which formalize sustainability-related disclosures, are expected to become mandatory in the coming years. While The Gambia’s financial system remains at an early stage of adaptation, forward-looking professionals like Fatty believe local companies should not wait for regulation to catch up.
He argues that the first step lies in building simple, voluntary reporting frameworks — tracking things like energy consumption, gender balance, community investment, and safety practices. These may sound like soft metrics, but they lay the foundation for credible sustainability reporting in the future.
Such efforts align with the State-Owned Enterprises Commission’s growing emphasis on governance reform and performance metrics that extend beyond traditional profitability.
Finance as a Climate Gatekeeper
The Gambia’s exposure to climate risks is no longer theoretical. Rising sea levels, erratic rainfall, and seasonal flooding have become routine challenges for sectors ranging from agriculture to energy. For finance managers, that translates into direct operational and credit risk.
Fatty advocates that financial modelling itself should evolve — moving beyond static budget forecasts to incorporate climate stress tests. This means assessing how floods, heatwaves, or droughts could affect project revenues, loan repayments, or insurance costs.
Such practices, long standard in banking risk management elsewhere, are rare in West Africa’s public sector. Yet, as The Gambia seeks to attract green financing and concessional loans, integrating these models could strengthen the country’s position in negotiations with international lenders.
A Social Imperative
While climate and carbon dominate global sustainability debates, Fatty believes the most immediate challenge for The Gambia lies in the “S” of ESG — the social dimension. With poverty levels high and access to electricity and clean water still limited, sustainability must begin with improving livelihoods and community inclusion.
Gambia’s Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement set ambitious goals for energy efficiency and biodiversity, but their success depends heavily on social acceptance and governance discipline. For finance professionals, that means designing budgets and projects that are not only technically viable but socially sustainable.
Bridging the Awareness Gap
The other missing piece, Fatty suggests, is awareness. Climate education is still largely absent from The Gambia’s secondary and tertiary curricula. NAWEC has experimented with small-scale programs like a Water Conservation Challenge among high school students, where winning teams use their prizes to fund projects that reduce water waste. Initiatives like these, he believes, can cultivate a new generation that views sustainability as a shared responsibility, not a technical afterthought.
A Profession in Transition
For accountants, this shift represents both a challenge and an opportunity. It requires new skills — in data analytics, environmental accounting, and scenario modelling — but it also restores something fundamental: relevance.
Fatty’s message to his peers is that finance must evolve from being a passive recorder of impact to an active shaper of outcomes. Whether through better budgeting, greener procurement, or more transparent reporting, accountants can play a decisive role in helping The Gambia balance its economic ambitions with environmental realities.
As the country grapples with both a fiscal and a climate deficit, it’s a reminder that the next generation of Gambian CFOs will be measured not only by the numbers they report — but by the futures they enable.
About Future CFO
Future CFO is a platform dedicated to advancing finance leadership and sustainability excellence across The Gambia and West Africa. Visit www.futurecfo.info for insights, CPD courses, and upcoming podcast episodes.