Black gold, Texas tea

last updated 8 January 2015

Banjul, Gambia

Western oil companies have found “large quantities” of oil off the coast of Gambia, the government said this week. “This harvest will change the future of our country,” said President Yahya Jammeh, who seized power in a 1994 coup. “There will be prosperity for our people.” Tiny Gambia is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a per capita annual income of $280. It’s unlikely to be the next Saudi Arabia, though, since the area of potential oil drilling is so small. Gambia’s coastline is only 50 miles long.