By Ndey Sowe
‘Yonna Group’, a homegrown and fully owned Gambian company that oversees four business entities, last Wednesday, January 1, 2025, held its annual end of year staff retreat and award ceremony.
The annual event is the time when staff of the group meet together to celebrate their achievements, work on the challenges of the past year, and create lasting memories in each other’s lives. Held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre in Bijilo, this year’s event captured the milestone achievement of outstanding staff of the group who contributed immensely, to the advancement of the company as a whole.
The ‘Yonna’ Group comprises ‘Yonna’ Forex Bureau, ‘Yonna’ Islamic Microfinance, ‘Yonna’ Islamic Insurance, ‘Yonna’ Enterprise and ‘Yonna’ Wallet. The company, which is owned and managed by a Gambian, has over 300 employees, and specialises in financial transactions, sale of essential products and insurance business.
Sarro Darboe, the Group’s Head of Human Resource, said he is thrilled that the management has taken the initiative of organizing the annual event by bringing together all members of the ‘Yonna’ family, to discuss concerns openly and effectively, by contributing to the upbringing of the company, and to interact and socialize in order to promote team spirit among themselves.
“This event is not only a formal meeting, but an opportunity to understand each other’s strong processes so that as when we work together, there will be compatibility as expected,” Mr. Darboe outlined.
Dominic Gomez, the Group’s head of Finance and Strategy, applauded the management for holding the annual event, in recognition of the excellence of staff, and for promoting the progressiveness of the group.
“This year 2025, our target is to make sure that we evolve as a group. We want to see ‘Yonna’ Group work together and collaborate and harness all the strengths and opportunities available within the group,” Mr. Gomez said.
Yankuba Mambureh, the Managing Director of ‘Yonna’ Islamic Microfinance, expressed delight in celebrating the dedication, resilience, hard work, and achievement of staff of the Group. He also spoke on the essence of customer service, teamwork, and leadership within the group, and said ‘Yonna’ is also an Islamic Microfinance that is into the provision of banking services, by accepting deposits, making payments, and giving out financing facilities.
“We are also an insurance company that ensures that risks are mitigated for various people who would like to insure their properties, and we try to do this in a ‘Sharia’ compliant manner,” Mr. Mambureh indicated.
Bubacarr Jallow, Head of Operations of ‘Yonna’ Forex bureaus, said he has no regret in joining the group, and urged the younger employees to work harder and go beyond expectation.
Ebou Bittaye, the Managing Director of ‘Yonna’ Islamic Insurance, said the Group is here to make a legacy and to help the Gambian people in terms of their lives and livelihood.
Mr. Bittaye stressed that insurance is behind everything and anything that human beings deal with, noting that insurance is a very important component of any business.
“I want to thank every employee for your vital roles played in the establishment of ‘Yonna’ Group, with the most recent inauguration of the ‘Yonna’ Wallet and the importation of 290,000 bags of rice,’’ the Chairperson and member of the Board of Directors of ‘Yonna’ Group, Muhammed Manjang and Seedy Kanyi, the Chairperson and members of the Board of Directors of ‘Yonna’ Forex bureaus, both said that the event was not about numbers but about the food security that will assist in improving the lives of the Gambian people.
“Our recent achievement offers us momentum as we embrace the latest technologies to enhance our finances, making an impact on the lives of the Gambian people,” they said.
Momodou Barrow, the General Manager said ‘Yonna’ Group is proudly Gambian-owned and employs over 500 citizens across the country. He expressed delight over the announcement of the arrival of ‘Yonna’ Enterprise’s “largest consignment” at the Banjul Port a week ago.
Hon. Lamin Ceesay, the NAM for Kiang West expresses delight and pride on the most outstanding, valuable and royal staff who were recruited by him when he was working with the group.
Below are the categories of awards:
1. Most outstanding staff of the year.
2. Most discipline staff of the year
3. Compliance staff of the year
4. Customer service of the year
5. Dress code for both men and women
6. Commitment awards
7. Appreciations Awards
8. Valuable staff of the year
9. Longer service awards
10. Proactive (Rock star) awards
11. Special awards
12. Loyalty Awards
13. beyond grateful awards
14. Forever with us awards
15. Departmental awards
16. Institutional awards
17. CEO’s awards.
