BANJUL, The Gambia — President Adama Barrow has promised that electricity supply will improve by the end of October after protesters took to streets in and around Banjul over prolonged blackouts. Police used tear gas during the unrest, while demonstrators burned tyres and erected barricades. Barrow called the electricity situation an emergency and acknowledged failures in planning, generation and maintenance.
What did Adama Barrow promise after The Gambia's blackout protests?
Barrow said a new 24-megawatt generation unit at Brikama Power Station should be commissioned by the end of October 2026. He also said new generators were expected and a 50-megawatt solar project had been awarded, although no completion date was given for the solar plant.
What happened during the protests
Reuters reported from Banjul that residents gathered overnight from Monday into Tuesday in several locations, including near Barrow's official residence. Protesters burned tyres, blocked roads and chanted for the president to leave office. Police used tear gas to disperse crowds.
The unrest was also reported in Westfield, where people moved toward the headquarters of the National Water and Electricity Company, and in Farato, where protesters gathered outside the vice-president's residence. Reuters said traffic had returned to normal in Banjul by Tuesday morning after residents helped extinguish fires and clear barricades.
No reliable public total for arrests or injuries was available at the reporting cutoff. Claims about casualties or large-scale detentions should therefore not be inferred from the images of burning barricades or the use of tear gas.
The protests followed months of electricity disruption. Some residents told Reuters that outages had lasted as long as 48 hours. eNCA's AFP report said the cuts had affected the country since June and had become particularly difficult during the hot season.
What President Barrow said
In an official address dated 8 September, Barrow acknowledged the hardship in homes and businesses. He said record electricity demand, simultaneous failures of major generating units and seasonal limits on regional hydropower supply had contributed to the crisis.
PROTESTS AND MOVEMENTS
Gambia Blackout Protests Push Barrow to Promise Power Boost
Sep 9, 2026
Sep 9, 2026
4 min read
Published
Updated:
BANJUL, The Gambia — President Adama Barrow has promised that electricity supply will improve by the end of October after protesters took to streets in and around Banjul over prolonged blackouts. Police used tear gas during the unrest, while demonstrators burned tyres and erected barricades. Barrow called the electricity situation an emergency and acknowledged failures in planning, generation and maintenance.
What did Adama Barrow promise after The Gambia's blackout protests?
Barrow said a new 24-megawatt generation unit at Brikama Power Station should be commissioned by the end of October 2026. He also said new generators were expected and a 50-megawatt solar project had been awarded, although no completion date was given for the solar plant.
What happened during the protests
Reuters reported from Banjul that residents gathered overnight from Monday into Tuesday in several locations, including near Barrow's official residence. Protesters burned tyres, blocked roads and chanted for the president to leave office. Police used tear gas to disperse crowds.
The unrest was also reported in Westfield, where people moved toward the headquarters of the National Water and Electricity Company, and in Farato, where protesters gathered outside the vice-president's residence. Reuters said traffic had returned to normal in Banjul by Tuesday morning after residents helped extinguish fires and clear barricades.
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No reliable public total for arrests or injuries was available at the reporting cutoff. Claims about casualties or large-scale detentions should therefore not be inferred from the images of burning barricades or the use of tear gas.
The protests followed months of electricity disruption. Some residents told Reuters that outages had lasted as long as 48 hours. eNCA's AFP report said the cuts had affected the country since June and had become particularly difficult during the hot season.
What President Barrow said
In an official address dated 8 September, Barrow acknowledged the hardship in homes and businesses. He said record electricity demand, simultaneous failures of major generating units and seasonal limits on regional hydropower supply had contributed to the crisis.
Barrow also accepted shortcomings in government planning, generation capacity and maintenance. He described the situation as an emergency and a national security issue, while urging citizens not to damage public infrastructure during protests.
The most concrete short-term commitment was a 24-megawatt generation unit being installed at Brikama Power Station. Barrow said it would be commissioned by the end of October 2026 and promised that electricity supply would improve by then.
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He also said a contract had been awarded for a 50-megawatt solar power plant in Soma. The address did not give a completion date for that project. Reporting the award as an operating plant would therefore overstate the present position.
Why the story is accelerating
The story moved rapidly from local street protests and social-media images into international coverage after the presidential address. Al Jazeera's AFP account highlighted the promised power boost, while The Star's BBC report brought the response to an East African audience during the current news cycle.
The political timing adds to the attention. The Gambia is expected to hold a presidential election in December, and Barrow is seeking another term. The protest slogan directed at him shows that frustration over a public-service failure has acquired a wider political dimension.
That does not establish that every person affected by the blackouts supports the protests or their political demands. The verified picture is that demonstrations occurred in several urban locations, police used tear gas, the president issued a national response and the government set a late-October target for improvement.
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What to watch next
The first practical test is whether the promised generators arrive and whether the Brikama unit is commissioned on schedule. NAWEC's public supply notices and observed outage duration will matter more than broad assurances.
Authorities also need to clarify whether anyone was arrested or injured during the demonstrations. Any further protest restrictions, criminal charges or independent complaints about police conduct would change the story and require separate verification.
For households and businesses, the immediate question remains the timetable for more reliable supply. Barrow's address created a clear benchmark: conditions should improve by the end of October. Until the additional unit is operating and outages measurably ease, that remains a government commitment rather than a completed solution.
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