The Gambia ranked third among the Sub-Saharan African countries assessed in the 2025 Open Budget Survey, scoring 36 out of 100 on budget transparency, according to findings unveiled by Gambia Participates on Tuesday, 25 August 2026.
The survey placed Sierra Leone at the top of the selected Sub-Saharan African countries, followed by Senegal. The Gambia came third ahead of Nigeria and Ghana.
The findings marked a significant improvement for The Gambia compared with its earlier performance in the Open Budget Survey, but the country’s score still remained below the benchmark of 61 out of 100, which the survey identified as the minimum level required to support informed public debate on the national budget.
The Open Budget Survey stated that The Gambia’s score of 36 represented the country’s highest transparency score since it first took part in the assessment.
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The 2025 findings also showed a major change in the regional comparison. In 2019, The Gambia scored only four points, placing it behind Ghana, which scored 54; Senegal, which recorded 46; Sierra Leone, which scored 39; Liberia, which registered 38; and Nigeria, which recorded 21. Six years later, The Gambia had increased its score to 36 and moved ahead of Nigeria and Ghana in the 2025 Sub-Saharan African comparison. However, the survey still classified the country’s transparency level as insufficient.
The 2025 Open Budget Survey showed Sierra Leone leading the countries listed in the Sub-Saharan African comparison with a transparency score of 50. Senegal followed in second place with 42. The Gambia ranked third with 36, followed by Nigeria with 24 and Ghana with 22.
Despite taking third place, The Gambia remained 25 points below the 61-point threshold that the survey considered sufficient for governments to provide enough budget information to support informed public debate.
The Open Budget Survey measured whether governments gave citizens access to information about how they raised and spent public resources.
It assessed the availability, timeliness and comprehensiveness of key budget documents and scored countries on a scale of zero to 100.
The survey used 106 equally weighted indicators to assess transparency. The 2025 assessment marked the 10th edition of the Open Budget Survey and covered 83 countries. The Gambia took part in the survey for the fourth time after participating in 2019, 2021 and 2023.
What the Survey Assessed?
The Open Budget Survey is the world’s only independent, comparative and fact-based research instrument that uses internationally accepted criteria to assess public access to central government budget information. It examined three major areas: transparency, budget oversight and public participation.
Under the transparency component, the survey assessed how much information governments made available to citizens on how they raised and spent public funds. The assessment focused on eight key budget documents. These included the Executive’s Budget Proposal, Pre-Budget Statement, Enacted Budget, Citizens Budget, In-Year Reports, Mid-Year Review, Year-End Report and Audit Report. The survey considered whether governments made the documents publicly available and whether they published them on time. It stated that countries that scored 61 or above on transparency were likely publishing enough material to support informed public debate on their budgets.
The Gambia’s score of 36 therefore showed that, despite the country’s third-place ranking in the regional comparison, public access to budget information remained insufficient under the survey’s standards.
The survey showed that The Gambia had made progress since its first Open Budget Survey assessment.
In 2019, the country recorded only four points. The Gambia’s 2025 score of 36 therefore represented its highest score between 2019 and 2025.
The increase also changed the country’s position when compared with other countries in the region.
In the 2019 comparison, Ghana scored 54, Senegal scored 46, Sierra Leone recorded 39, Liberia scored 38 and Nigeria recorded 21. The Gambia came last with four points.
The survey also assessed how institutions oversaw the national budget. According to the findings, the National Assembly scored 50 out of 100 for budget oversight in 2025. Audit oversight scored 78 out of 100. The survey examined the role of the legislature in reviewing and monitoring the budget and assessed the role of audit institutions in examining government spending and public finances. The audit oversight score of 78 stood significantly higher than the National Assembly’s score of 50.
The survey also measured opportunities for citizens and civil society organisations to participate in the national budget process. The Gambia scored 20 out of 100 for public participation during budget formulation. It scored 44 out of 100 during budget approval. The score fell to 17 out of 100 during budget implementation. The country scored 33 out of 100 during audit processes. The figures showed that public participation varied across different stages of the budget process. Budget implementation recorded the lowest score at 17, while budget approval recorded the highest score at 44.
The Open Budget Survey made several recommendations to improve transparency in The Gambia’s budgeting process.
It recommended that the government publish the Pre-Budget Statement online at least one month before the Executive submitted its Budget Proposal to the National Assembly. The survey also called on authorities to publish Audit Reports online in a timely manner. It recommended that authorities publish Audit Reports within 18 months after the end of the fiscal year.
The survey further called for the timely publication of the Mid-Year Review and Year-End Report. It recommended that authorities publish the Mid-Year Review within three months after the midpoint of the fiscal year. It also recommended that authorities publish the Year-End Report within 12 months after the end of the fiscal year.
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On budget oversight, the survey recommended greater involvement by the National Assembly. It said the Executive should consult the legislature before shifting funds specified in the Enacted Budget between administrative units. The survey also said the Executive should consult lawmakers before reducing spending because of revenue shortfalls during the budget year. It further recommended that a legislative committee examine the Audit Report and publish its findings online.
The survey also called for expanded public participation during budget formulation and implementation. It recommended that authorities create more opportunities for civil society organisations and members of the public who wished to participate in the budget process. The survey also urged authorities to actively engage vulnerable and underrepresented communities. It said authorities could engage such communities directly or through civil society organisations that represented them. The survey further recommended that authorities provide feedback to citizens on how officials used their contributions during budget formulation and in monitoring the implementation of the annual budget.
The 2025 findings placed The Gambia among the top three countries in the Sub-Saharan African comparison included in the survey, while also highlighting continuing gaps in public access to budget information, parliamentary oversight and opportunities for citizens to participate in decisions on public finances.