TGSB calls for collective action to improve lighting product quality

The Director General of the Gambia Standards Bureau (TGSB), Papa Secka, has called for stronger collaboration among government institutions, importers, retailers, manufacturers, regulators and consumers to improve the quality, safety and energy efficiency of lighting products.

He made the call on Wednesday at a national lighting forum organised by the TGSB through its National Lighting Testing Laboratory (NLTL). The forum, held at Metzy Residence, brought together key stakeholders to discuss product quality, energy efficiency, regulatory compliance and the role of the laboratory in promoting safe and standards-compliant lighting products in The Gambia.

Secka described the forum as a major milestone in a process that began more than two years ago with the establishment of the country’s first National Lighting Testing Laboratory, which was commissioned in May 2024 at the National Quality Centre in Abuko.

He said the laboratory was established under the UNIDO-GEF6 project on the operationalisation of the SEforALL Action Agenda, in partnership with the Ministry of Petroleum, Energy and Mines, the Ministry of Trade and other technical partners.

According to him, the Bureau is committed to ensuring that the laboratory operates efficiently and sustainably in the interest of Gambian consumers and businesses.

“Today’s forum is part of how we deliver on that commitment,” he said.

Following the commissioning of the laboratory, TGSB conducted a comprehensive market survey covering 50 lighting products sampled from dealers, importers and retailers across the country. The products were tested against the Ecowas Harmonised Minimum Energy Performance Standards, ECOSTAND 053:2016, which has been adopted as a national standard.

Secka said the findings exposed serious levels of non-compliance in the market.

“Nearly half of the products tested failed to meet the minimum energy efficiency requirements. About 25 percent failed the power factor requirement, while more than 60 percent did not meet the minimum colour rendering standards,” he disclosed.

He said the results are not just technical figures, but a clear indication that many lighting products sold in the country fall short of minimum quality and safety requirements.

“These are not abstract statistics. They represent real money Gambian households and businesses are spending on lighting that underperforms, wastes electricity and, in some cases, may not even be safe,” he said.

Secka said the National Lighting Testing Laboratory was created precisely to close that gap by providing reliable testing services and generating evidence to support market regulation and consumer protection.

He stressed that improving lighting product quality cannot be left to the Standards Bureau alone.

“A testing laboratory only changes outcomes when its findings reach the people who make decisions every day,” he said.

He said importers must ensure that products brought into the country meet standards, retailers must stock compliant products, regulators must enforce the rules, and consumers must demand safe and reliable lighting products.

He called on government institutions to strengthen the policy and regulatory framework for energy-efficient lighting, including the formal adoption and enforcement of minimum energy performance standards and their integration into public procurement and market surveillance systems.

He further appealed for stronger collaboration on market surveillance to ensure that non-compliant lighting products are detected both at points of entry and within the domestic market.

Alagie Manjang, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum, Energy and Mines, said the laboratory is an important development in The Gambia’s push for improved energy efficiency.

He said it is essential for the country to build the capacity to test and verify energy-efficiency claims made about products sold on the market.