By Yero S. Bah
As the world of entrepreneurship and tech continues to grow exponentially, Gambian youth are not left behind as they continue to lead global companies.
One such Gambian youngster is Mr. Foday Bah who serves as Manager of Arctern Startups Gambia, an international company that provides all-inclusive global entrepreneurship programs to various local startups, entrepreneurs and NGOs by assisting them to expand their operations into global markets.
He said that the logic behind Arctern is to help local startups to raise capital and aid entrepreneurs to join other startups as partners. Bah explained that the global company was formed in 2019 by Zafer Ulgez from Turkey to provide technical assistance to entrepreneurs and startups. “Our targets are entrepreneurs, startups and NGOs,” he told Mansa Banko Online newspaper.
Bah believes the entrepreneurship landscape of the Gambia has an emerging set of actors in the network, saying there is an increased realization of the potentials of entrepreneurship development for the country’s economic growth. Despite the country’s size with young population, it’s his view that the country is blessed with creative minds and an increasing awareness of entrepreneurship skills as key advantages for the Gambian ecosystem. “We need mentorship and support to access global funding.”
The Banjul-based Manager said his company actually came to actualize that mentorship and support; train and help entrepreneurs in the country. However, he highlighted the current challenges they are facing as a company, indicating that people understanding how their business model runs is a key challenge in helping clients to succeed in their businesses.
Manager Bah noted that with the coming of Arctern company, the business dynamics of entrepreneurship “has changed in the Gambia”; that a lot of customers are now seeking their services since his Company has business model that could actually help startups to grow globally. He assured that Arctern, which is headquartered in Turkey but have their regional office in Ivory Coast, “is here for all”.
Meanwhile, Bah informed that they encourage innovative minds to develop social startups to improve quality of life in societies.
Foday Bah has a Master’s degree in Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Messina in Italy, a BSc in Systems Engineering with couple of other professional courses such as MCSE and Digital Marketing.
