By Ndey Sowe
The National Youth Chamber of Commerce (NYCC) and partners on Tuesday July 9th 2019, launched a project called “National Youth Agribusiness and Expo at a ceremony held at the NYCC’s head office at Churchill’s town. The project aims to promote youth agribusiness and the tourism sector through the creation of market linkages and networking.
Ismaila Sambou, Board President of NYCC said the project hopes to increase the networking, business income, business exposure and creation of potential space for the target group for partnerships and business linkages amongst the entrepreneurs themselves.
Sambou said this is the perfect time to create connections between Gambian entrepreneurs and families abroad while increasing the broad based sales of their business products.
He said NYCC will promote development-oriented policies that will support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation among others to complement the work of Government; that NYCC will encourage the formalization and growth of micro, small and medium size enterprises respectively.
Abdoulie Jammeh, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Regional Integration and Employment said his Ministry believes that entrepreneurship and private sector development are the most sustainable means of creating employment, which he said has great potential in addressing the root cause of unemployment, irregular migration and skills gap.
He applauded the NYCC for launching the project, which he said will address the need of these young entrepreneurs, by creating space for micro, small and medium size entrepreneurs. This he said will support and promote the agribusiness industry of the country.
Other speakers at the ceremony include Lamin Darboe the Executive Director of the National Youth Council (NYC) and Bubacarr Kebbeh, CEO of the National Youth Chamber of Commerce (NYCC).
According to officials, the project targets a group of 150 youth and 50 women in agribusiness and tourism nationwide, and the duration will be fourteen days beginning November 29th to December 12th; that the target location is at the Independence Stadium in Bakau, and the implementing agency is the Gambia GNYCC. The target funding agencies will be YEP, GIZ, FASDEP, MoTIE, KONRAD ADENAUER FOUNDATION, BEL AQUA, and Nema-Chosso, whilst the implementing partners will be NEDE, NYC, GYIN Gambia, Empretect Gambia, ASSERT, GCCI, WCCI, and Farm Fresh.
Officials also indicate that during the Expo, GYCC will organize side events such as a youth/stakeholder forum which will bring Government, the private sector as well as young people, to discuss youth trade and agribusiness, and will thus expose them to opportunities that are available for young entrepreneurs in the Gambia.
