FACT-CHECK: Deputy speaker’s claim that The Gambia has the cheapest gasoline price in West Africa is False

Claim: Gasoline prices in the Gambia are cheaper than in Senegal, Guinea, Ghana, and Nigeria

Source: Seedy S. K Njie, Deputy Speaker, National Assembly of The Gambia.

Verdict: False

Researched by Mariama Fatty 

The Deputy Speaker of the Gambian National Assembly, Seedy S. K. Njie, on Coffee Time with Peter Gomez on August 4, 2025, claimed fuel prices in The Gambia are cheaper than in some neighbouring countries.

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“You know, diesel, Nigeria, they are one of the biggest oil producers around the world, a litre of gasoline is more expensive in Nigeria than in The Gambia, wallahi ( swears). A litre of gasoline in Ghana is about 105 to 120 dalasi. A litre of gasoline in Senegal is more expensive than in The Gambia. 

“A litre of gasoline is more expensive in Guinea Conakry, Guinea-Bissau than in The Gambia. A litre of gasoline is more expensive in the United Kingdom and the US than in The Gambia,” Seedy Njie said. (19 minutes onwards). 

Currently, Gambians pay 85 dalasi (1.18 USD) for gasoline and 86 dalasi (1.19 USD) for diesel.

Because he specifically mentioned Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Ghana, and Nigeria as countries in the sub-region with more expensive prices than in The Gambia, this fact-check report seeks to verify the accuracy of the claim. 

Fact-check

To investigate this claim, FactSpace West Africa relied on data from the GlobalPetrolPrices.com platform as of September 1, 2025.  

Using a common platform means that we could get the price per litre of each listed country in US dollar terms. This also helps make an easy comparison of prices across different countries. 

Below is a compilation of the gasoline and diesel prices on GlobalPetrolPrices.com.

From the above, we found the following:

1. Nigeria had the cheapest fuel prices in West Africa for gasoline or diesel
2. The Gambia paid the second-lowest prices for fuel after Nigeria 
3. Senegal paid the highest for gasoline in the listed countries
4. Guinea, however, paid the highest for diesel. 

Verdict

Therefore, the claim that Gambia pays the least amount for petrol among selected West African countries in the sub-region is false.

Note: Mariama Fatty is a member of the 2025 cohort of the FactSpace West Africa Volunteers project in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia, and The Gambia.