Adama Barrow

Adama Barrow (𞤀𞥄𞤣𞤢𞤥𞤢 𞤄𞤢𞥄𞤪𞤮, born 15 February 1965) is a Gambian politician and real estate developer who has served as President of the Gambia since 2017.

Born in Mankamang Kunda, a village near Basse Santa Su, he attended Crab Island Secondary School and the Muslim High School, the latter on a scholarship.

He then worked for Alhagie Musa Njie & Sons, a Gambian energy company, where he became a sales manager.

Barrow was born on 15 February 1965 in Mankamang Kunda, a small village near Basse Santa Su, three days before the Gambia achieved independence from the United Kingdom.

He is the son of Mamudu Barrow and Kaddijatou Jallow.

He attended the local Koba Kunda primary school, and then Crab Island Secondary School in Banjul.

He then received a scholarship to study at the Muslim High School.

After leaving school, he worked for Alhagie Musa Njie & Sons, a Gambian energy company, and rose through the ranks to become a sales manager.

Moving to London in the early 2000s, Barrow studied for qualifications in real estate and concurrently worked as a security guard for Argos.

In the early 2000s, he moved to London where he studied for qualifications in real estate.

Concurrently, he worked as a security guard at a local Argos store in order to finance his studies.

He later described these experiences as formative, saying "Life is a process, and the UK helped me to become the person I am today. Working 15 hours a day builds a man."

After returning to the Gambia in 2006, he founded Majum Real Estate and was the CEO until 2016.

Barrow returned to the Gambia and in 2006, he established Majum Real Estate, and from 2006 to 2016 was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the company.

However, in 2007, he parted ways with the NRP and joined the UDP when Bah advised him not to contest against their former colleague Mamma Kandeh who had cross-carpeted to the ruling APRC.

He became the treasurer of the United Democratic Party, an opposition party, and then became party leader in September 2016 after the previous leader was jailed.

Barrow was then chosen as the UDP candidate in the 2016 presidential election.

It was later announced that he would stand as an independent with the backing of the opposition group Coalition 2016 (a coalition supported by the UDP and six other parties).

Barrow won the 2016 presidential election with 43.34% of the vote, defeating long-time incumbent Yahya Jammeh.

Jammeh initially accepted the result, but later reneged on this, and Barrow was forced to flee to neighbouring Senegal.

Barrow lost the election to Kandeh and maintained a low profile until his election as President of the Gambia in 2016.

On 30 October 2016, Barrow was chosen by a coalition of seven opposition parties as their endorsed candidate for the 2016 Gambian presidential election.

Prior to becoming a candidate for the presidency, Barrow had not previously held any elected office, but he had been the treasurer of the United Democratic Party (UDP).

He resigned from the UDP on 3 November in order to contest the election as an independent, with the full backing of Coalition 2016.

During the campaign, he promised to return the Gambia to its membership of the Commonwealth of Nations and the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

He also promised to reform security forces, pledging to increase professionalism and separate them from politics.

He also said that he would set up a temporary transition government formed of members from the opposition coalition and would step down within three years.

In the election, Barrow won with 43.34% of the vote, defeating Yahya Jammeh (who received 39.6%) and third-party candidate Mama Kandeh (who received 17.1%).

Initially, Jammeh indicated that a smooth handover of power would take place.

However, on Friday 9 December, in a television broadcast, he declared that he "totally" rejected the result of the election.

This was met with both national and international outcry.

The UN Security Council called on Jammeh to "respect the choice of the sovereign people of The Gambia" and the African Union declared Jammeh's statement "null and void"; Jammeh's refusal to step down was criticised by the United States, neighbouring Senegal, ECOWAS, and others.

Fearing for his safety, Barrow left the Gambia to Senegal while urging Jammeh to step down.

Jammeh appealed his loss in the election to the Supreme Court.

He was inaugurated at the Gambian embassy in Senegal on 19 January 2017, and Jammeh was forced to leave the Gambia and go into exile on 21 January.

Barrow returned to the Gambia on 26 January.

In November 2021, Adama Barrow announced his candidacy for the 2021 presidential election, and was re-elected.

On 12 June 2019, he received The Great Builder Super Prize award which is The Africa Road Builders Babacar Ndiaye Trophy.

This was for his leadership in building the Senegambia Bridge.

Barrow started his political career with the National Reconciliation Party (NRP) headed by his current Minister of Tourism and Culture, Hamat Bah together with the current Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) leader, Mamma Kandeh.