A seasoned Gambian historian and writer has said granting citizenship to the African descendant community in The Gambia will be a massive economic opportunity for the country. 

The Council of African Descendants, a community of people from African ancestors born outside the continent who have now returned to the continent and are found in many African countries including The Gambia, have been campaigning for The Gambia government to grant them citizenship.

The group even took their case to the now defunct Constitutional Review Commission for a possible inclusion of a clause to make them citizens in the ill-fated 2020 constitution and have also unsuccessfully attempted to meet President Adama Barrow for him to formally welcome them to the country.

But speaking in an exclusive interview with The Standard on Wednesday, Hassoum Ceesay, the director at the National Centre for Arts and Culture, said the request by the community is not a bad idea and in fact, it could be a golden opportunity for The Gambia: “Given The Gambia’s illustrious pedigree of pan-Africanism, every person of African descent should be given the opportunity to be a Gambian. We should welcome them with open arms and allow them as much as possible to be part of Gambian society”.

Ceesay said since 1977, with the publication of Alex Haley’s book “Roots” and the film of the same title, The Gambia has been in the forefront for homecoming of the Diaspora.

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