By Kebba Jeffang Mr. Yusupha Keita, the Enterprise Support Manager at Gambia Investment and Export Promote Agency (GIEPA), in his presentation at the on-going NaYConF conference at Jenoi on Monday,15 December, said the private sector in the Gambia is contributing 67% to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). He added that 20% of this is contributed by micro businesses. Dilating on the importance of entrepreneurship, Mr. Keita said it leads to the creation of wealth in the economy, adding that it demands creativity as it is a way of generating income through sales. “Entrepreneurship needs innovation due to the high quality production involved because as an entrepreneur, the person should be able to be creative to enable him or her to identify new businesses and skill that will bear more fruit. It is also important because it leads to industrial development of a country,” he said. Mr. Keita identified the fisheries sector as one of the key job opportunities in the country, adding that fish catching, middleman and those engage in standardising fish for export are all available works for the people of the Gambia. He said poultry production is another area to venture as well as horticulture. He also highlighted the weaknesses of entrepreneurs which lead to the failure of businesses, citing factors such as poor financial management, poor market study before venturing, low entrepreneurship skills among others. ]]>
