The Barrow dispensation is not oblivious of the situation of youth unemployment in the country, as per indications given by the Gambia’s Minister of Information and Communications Infrastructure, Mr. Ebrima Sillah.
The former Citizen FM and BBC reporter, now Minister in the Barrow Administration, told the “Gambia 2020-Small Country, Great Potential” Summit’s opening ceremony at Coco Ocean Hotel, yesterday, that the government of The Gambia is indeed, concerned about the issue of youth unemployment in country, and they are working with partners to address it.
The forum organised by the Israel Embassy in collaboration with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, in Dakar brought together 30 young and promising Gambian Start-Ups to enhance their entrepreneurial mind-set and provide hands-on training in high impact entrepreneurship.
Sillah, in describing the summit as an important event for the government of The Gambia, reasoned that it’s targeting the young people who form the majority in the country; hence they need support from the government and partners to harness their potentials in order for them to work in this country and deliver.
The Information Minister posited that one important way of addressing youth unemployment is by given them the opportunity to harness their potentials and work in this country.
He observed that sometimes young people find it difficult to sustain their business due to lack of mentorship and direction.
“Therefore, this summit will not only mentor them but also introduce them to best practises so that they understand how to sustain businesses in order to inspire others youths,” Sillah remarked.
Daniel Aschheim, Deputy Israel Ambassador to The Gambia told the ceremony: “We, at the Israeli embassy in Dakar, learned that you are a small, resolved to invest your best efforts to take your country forward after many years of stagnation.
“We, in Israel, are ready to be there for you, as we were there for you since independence in 1965.”
He said they have managed to send, “for the first time, eleven Gambian graduate students in agriculture to a prestigious year-long learning by doing program on how to implement the newest technologies and methods in agriculture”.
The Israeli diplomat said they are happy to partner with Konrad Adenauer Foundation to create here {The Gambia} the ecosystem necessary for start-ups and entrepreneurship.
The Minister of Basic and Secondary Education, Madam Claudiana Cole, said considering the fact that The Gambia is a youthful population with more than 60% being young people, providing means to unlock their potentials is of “paramount significance.”
Minister Cole said she’s of the conviction that, the move by Konrad Adenauer Foundation to support young entrepreneurs with such opportunities, would have an impact to unlock their potentials, so that they could contribute positively to their own, as well as, to national development.
Madam Cole looked forward to “concrete proposals, resolution and great results in the future from our young entrepreneurs as they work towards their own empowerment and independence”.
The Resident Representative of Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Mr. Thomas Volk, told his audience that his Foundation has been in the country since 2018, and working with the National Youth Council.
He said they are also working with the GCCI on job creation and vocational training on start-up and ecosystem of young entrepreneurs in the Gambia. Volk added that they are also working with The Gambia Press Union.
He explained that they are in The Gambia to support the new government in its on-going political transition after two decades of authoritarian regime.
“What we want is how we can support start-up young entrepreneurs to create their own job opportunity, and ideally also,to give job opportunity to other young Gambian.
“We want to bring together Gambian start-up from different fields to get to know their experience so that they can move forward,” the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s Representative told the gathering.
