Transforming Kairaba Avenue & Westfield
Modernizing Coastal Tourism Zones into Major Business Districts
Kairaba Avenue is The Gambia's commercial hub. It has served the country well in its current form. But the physical infrastructure of this corridor has not kept pace with the scale and complexity of the economic activity it is supposed to support. Kairaba Avenue today is congested, poorly drained, inconsistently maintained, and developed without the zoning discipline that would make it a coherent business district rather than an accumulation of commercial activities that have grown up organically without a master plan. The coastal Tourism Development Area, which drives a substantial share of national income, lacks the continuous beachfront infrastructure, the street quality, and the commercial coherence that a premium coastal destination needs. Overhead cables degrade the visual quality of every street they cross. Flooding during the rainy season makes sections of the road impassable and damages ground-floor businesses. And the broader Kanifing-Serrekunda Municipal District, housing the majority of the national urban population, has grown far beyond the infrastructure and planning framework that was designed to serve it. The National Builders Party will transform all of it.
A Kairaba Avenue that an investor walks and thinks: this is a city that is serious about business. A Westfield that has the skyline of ambition rather than the skyline of improvisation. A coastal belt from Kololi to Brufut that a visitor photographs not just because the beach is beautiful but because the street behind it is also beautiful. A Greater Serrekunda that is planned, invested in, and proud of what it has become. This is not decoration. It is economic infrastructure. The quality of the urban environment is one of the primary factors in investment decisions, in tourism ratings, and in the willingness of the Gambian diaspora to bring their capital home. The National Builders Party will build the environment that makes The Gambia the obvious choice. Kairaba Avenue will be the proof.
The NBP will redesign Kairaba Avenue along its full length from the Westfield junction to the Atlantic coast road, creating a functioning Central Business District with underground utilities, modern drainage, dedicated cycling and bus lanes, and a shaded boulevard that makes the street a pleasure to walk.
All power cables, telecommunications lines, and fibre-optic cables will be placed underground along the full corridor, eliminating the overhead infrastructure that degrades the streetscape and introduces disruption when cables fail. A modern drainage system engineered for peak rainy season rainfall will be installed beneath the full corridor, ending the flooding that currently damages businesses and makes sections impassable. Kairaba Avenue will be transformed into a tree-lined boulevard with double rows of shade trees, a green median, widened pedestrian walkways, outdoor dining terraces, and modern street furniture including benches, bins, cycle parking, and decorative lighting. Public art installations and heritage murals commissioned from Gambian artists will give the avenue a visual identity rooted in Gambian culture. A comprehensive zoning plan will define permitted uses and building standards that create the coherent, investor-attractive business district the avenue deserves.
The NBP will develop the Westfield junction and surrounding blocks into the Financial and Business Hub of the Central Business District, the highest-specification commercial zone in the country and the address of choice for banks, professional services firms, and technology companies.
A Financial District zoning designation for the Westfield core will permit the construction of modern office buildings and commercial developments to a defined height and quality standard. A Westfield Business Hub development programme, beginning in Year 3, will deliver the anchor commercial developments that establish the zone's character and attract further private investment around them. A Technology and Innovation Quarter within the broader CBD will attract the digital economy businesses, tech startups, and innovation companies that a growing modern economy generates, establishing Banjul-Serrekunda as a regional technology destination. A Gambia Digital Hub, fully operational by Year 4, will provide co-working space, startup incubation, digital infrastructure, and access to the investment networks that growing technology businesses need. An annual Kairaba Avenue Investment Forum will connect domestic and international investors with commercial development opportunities in the transformation zone.
The NBP will transform the coastal strip from Kololi to Brufut into a connected, high-quality tourism destination with a full-length coastal promenade, upgraded roads and drainage, modern resort and entertainment facilities, and the street-level quality that makes a premium coastal experience genuinely premium.
A coastal promenade running the full length of the Tourism Development Area from Kololi to Brufut will provide the continuous, walkable beachfront infrastructure that connects the coastal strip into a coherent tourism zone rather than a series of isolated hotel enclaves. Modern roads, drainage, lighting, and signage throughout the TDA will bring the supporting infrastructure to the standard that tourism investment and visitor expectations demand. Entertainment complexes, a marina, luxury boat docking stations, culinary villages showcasing authentic Gambian cuisine alongside international options, and a coastal cleanliness programme with clean, monitored beach access points will complete the transformation. A TDA Commercial Standards Code will enforce the aesthetic and operational standards that protect the tourism brand across all businesses in the coastal zone. Made in Gambia craft markets, drumming nights, and local food festivals will integrate Gambian culture into the visitor experience at every level.
The National Builders Party will invest in the wider Kanifing-Serrekunda Municipal District, upgrading the urban road network, creating public parks and green spaces, and building the infrastructure that allows the country's largest urban community to function with the dignity its population deserves.
A KSMD Master Plan, developed through genuine public consultation with communities and businesses in the transformation zone and published as a statutory document, will provide the planning framework for all development decisions in the district. The principal connecting streets of the CBD zone will be upgraded to a defined secondary standard with paved surfaces, drainage, lighting, and pedestrian walkways that extend the quality of Kairaba Avenue into the surrounding commercial blocks. A KSMD public parks and green space programme will create the breathing room that a densely populated urban area needs. Architectural standards enforcement will produce visual coherence across new development. A KSMD Cleanliness Programme, coordinating with the waste management reforms delivered through the Bakoteh Transformation initiative, will raise the baseline environmental standard across the whole district. Serrekunda is the commercial heart of The Gambia. It will be built as one.
For Businesses on the Avenue
Underground utilities mean fewer outages and fewer days of disrupted trade. A modern drainage system means your ground floor does not flood during the rainy season. A tree-lined boulevard with outdoor dining zones and pedestrian traffic means more people walking past your business for longer. A zoned business district with coherent architecture means the address you operate from carries weight with clients and investors. The transformation of Kairaba Avenue is the transformation of the environment every business on it operates in.
For Young Gambians
A Gambia Digital Hub and Technology Innovation Quarter mean that the tech startup you are building, the software you are writing, and the digital business you are growing have a home in the commercial heart of the country rather than a bedroom. Kairaba Avenue as a genuine business district means professional services, financial sector, and technology sector jobs in a transformed urban environment. And a coastal promenade that draws tourists and residents alike means the hospitality, entertainment, and creative economy opportunities that a vibrant urban waterfront creates.
For Every Family
Public parks and green spaces in Greater Serrekunda. Streets that drain in the rain. A coastal promenade you can walk with your family. A city that looks and feels like the capital of a country with ambition. The transformation of Kairaba Avenue and the TDA is not just for investors and tourists. It is for every Gambian who lives and works in the urban centre of their country and deserves an environment that reflects what The Gambia is capable of building. The street behind the beach will be beautiful too.
The New National Standard for the commercial and tourism heart of this country is a place that reflects what The Gambia is capable of. A Kairaba Avenue that an investor walks and thinks: this is a city that is serious about business. A Westfield that has the skyline of ambition rather than the skyline of improvisation. A coastal belt from Kololi to Brufut that a visitor photographs not just because the beach is beautiful but because the street behind it is also beautiful. This is not decoration. It is economic infrastructure. The quality of the urban environment is one of the primary factors in investment decisions, in tourism ratings, and in the willingness of the Gambian diaspora to bring their capital home rather than invest it somewhere else. The National Builders Party will build the environment that makes The Gambia the obvious choice. Kairaba Avenue will be the proof.
Kairaba Avenue has served The Gambia well. Under the National Builders Party, it will serve it far better. A boulevard where ambition is visible in every tree, every pavement, every building, and every business that lines it. The commercial spine of a nation building itself into something extraordinary.
Think Big. Build Big.
Read the plan. Join the movement.
Vote NBP