The Gambia has seen a number of positive changes in the first year of President Adama Barrow’s presidency, whose election in December 2016 ended 23 years of authoritarian rule by Yahyah Jammeh.

Political prisoners have been released, a new chief justice of the Supreme Court has been appointed, the executive secretary of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission was sworn in on 1 March 2018, and the IMF projected growth at 3 per cent in 2017 (up from 1.6 per cent in 2016).

Nevertheless, President Barrow faces immense challenges: he inherited a faltering economy and 120 per cent debt to GDP ratio from his predecessor, his coalition government is becoming increasingly divided, and vital security sector reforms will not prove easy.