Government Launches Gambia Research and Education Network

The Government of The Gambia, with support from the World Bank, has officially launched the Gambia Research and Education Network (GAMREN) — a dedicated platform to foster research, collaboration, and innovation across the country’s tertiary and higher education institutions.

The launch ceremony was held on Monday, 4 September 2023, at a hotel in Kotu, bringing together representatives from government ministries, the World Bank, WACREN, and the research and education community.

A Digital Revolution for Higher Education

In his keynote statement, the Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST), Prof. Pierre Gomez, described GAMREN as nothing less than a digital revolution for The Gambia’s tertiary and higher education ecosystem.

The Minister outlined the core benefits GAMREN will deliver to the nation’s institutions: high-speed connectivity, enhanced research collaboration, knowledge sharing, access to online academic resources, and the infrastructure needed to support innovation across campuses.

“The National Research and Education Network is a specialised network infrastructure designed to provide high-speed, reliable network connectivity to academies and research institutions within a particular country,” Minister Gomez explained.

“Educational research communities will be able to innovate, share, and facilitate open and instant learning opportunities,” he added.

A Long-Awaited Achievement

The launch represented the culmination of years of effort to bring The Gambia into the global research and education network community. Dr. Boubakar Barry, CEO of the West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN), spoke of the significance of the moment.

WACREN had worked for many years to bring The Gambia into the community of research education networks, and the launch of GAMREN marked the country’s formal entry into this continental network. Dr. Barry emphasised that the network is fundamentally about collaboration, knowledge sharing, and establishing interconnections between national research and education networks across West and Central Africa.

WACREN provides advanced services aimed at fostering collaboration between research and education institutions in the region, as well as between them and peer institutions at continental and international levels — services that GAMREN’s member institutions can now access.

World Bank Commitment

Alieu Bah, representing the World Bank, affirmed the institution’s commitment to supporting GAMREN. He noted that for the national research and education network to succeed, it requires strong leadership and governance, and that the World Bank remains committed to supporting initiatives that promote accountability and prosperity in The Gambia’s education sector.

National ICT Infrastructure Alignment

Dr. Karim Jallow, Director General of the Gambia Information, Communication Technology Agency (GICTA), spoke on behalf of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. He highlighted the establishment of GICTA as the first-ever national ICT agency in The Gambia — an institution responsible for all ICT systems across government — and noted that GAMREN represents a critical piece of the country’s broader digital transformation strategy.

GICTA pledged to support GAMREN by helping institutions develop robust and reliable ICT systems that can fully leverage the research and education network.

What GAMREN Means for The Gambia

With this launch, GAMREN joins a growing community of National Research and Education Networks across Africa. The network will:

• Provide dedicated, high-speed internet connectivity to academic and research institutions nationwide
• Enable collaboration and resource sharing between Gambian institutions and their counterparts across Africa and globally
• Connect The Gambia to WACREN’s regional backbone and, through it, to the pan-European GÉANT network and the global research infrastructure
• Support the deployment of services such as eduroam (global Wi-Fi roaming), identity federation, and institutional repositories
• Align with The Gambia’s Recovery-Focused National Development Plan 2023–2027

The University of The Gambia serves as the technical hub for GAMREN, with a dedicated technical team established to manage infrastructure and coordinate with member institutions.