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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Momodou |
Posted - 01 Jun 2024 : 18:57:08
Promoting enterprise culture in Gambia
By Sarjo Bayang
On his maiden tour of duty in London UK less than 2 years after Barrow became president, I wrote personal letter to him handed through the hands of Suntou Touray who fronted as volunteer protocol. In the letter, I suggested the establishment for University of Gambia Entrepreneurship Programme, ready to support the creation and upkeep. I also provided brotherly and national duty advice that Barrow to respect 3 Years agreement by overseeing reforms and leaving a decent legacy. My suspicion is that this letter was opened by Suntou who subsequently misinformed Yaya Dampha that I have written job seeking application letter to Barrow. Other possibility is that Barrow upon reading my letter would have shared the contents with his close circle. God knows. My suspicion about Suntou Touray and Yaya Dampha stems from an encounter on facebook with Yaya Dampha who claimed that I challenge Barrow because he refused to provide me a job. Just last week, Barrow emerged with the public pronouncement that Gambia government is putting up a programme on Entrepreneurship. Not sure what study has been done to inform such occasion. However, in the history of enterprise development and enhancing entrepreneurship, a whole institution was created with national outreach. Indigenous Business Advisory Services IBAS came into being following detailed feasibility carried out by United Nations Development Programme UNDP, International Labour Office ILO, and Gambia Government GG. Under Minstry of Economic Planning and Industrial Development, MEPID, the institutional mandate and strategic focus of IBAS has been on informal sector Small and Medium Enterprises SMEs.
Enhancing entrepreneurship and promotion of enterprise culture culminated key mandates for IBAS. During the years of IBAS operations which covered entire Gambia with regional offices serving both sides of the river, huge impact is created in gains. Staff development came through extensive overseas training and counterpart knowledge sharing with experts from UNDP, ILO, United States Peace Corps, United Kingdom Voluntary Services Overseas VSO among others. I happened to be among pioneers of such an institution and personally served in all regions of Gambia. Fast forward, Jammeh in his last kick decided dismantling IBAS without any recourse to stakeholder public consultation. Knowing how IBAS was established and the instrumental contribution to national development, revival of IBAS with highly enhanced schemes would have been most prudent choice and not jumping ship to unknown destinies without a compass. Adding to the rationale for establishing IBAS under Ministry of Economic Planning and Industrial Development was the allocation of landed plot at Kanifining Industrial Estate, meant to serve as teething ground for Gambia's industrial inroad, The area submerged into commercial and residential use over the years. The rest is history. Gambia can still rely on eminent persons with reserved knowledge of corporate memory like Genral Manager John Z Sylva, Momodou Dibba, Haruna Gassama, Kemo Barrow and many others to include my humble self. Pool of international experts include Jaime Cortes, Mei Zegers, Tom Coogan, among others. Hopefully, this snapshot of the remote past will interest any development studies candidates or media to dig further and keep records on good track. The question remains, is there is proper study conducted by Adama Barrow and his spin doctor elites before jumping ship with different footsteps on national development endeavors? Digging into the past may unearth valued treasures. |
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