In furtherance of fulfilling their mandate in regulating the energy sector, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) on Saturday launched a massive energy awareness campaign known as Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) pilot project.

Speaking at a ceremony held at Kanifing South, the Director General of PURA Mr.Alhagie Gaye revealed that the aim of the project is to raise public awareness about energy efficiency by demonstrating the economic and environmental benefits of using simple alternative technologies such as CFLs for lighting homes and premises. He revealed that the CFLs consume less electricity than regular incandescent bulbs. “Indeed incandescent bulbs whilst cheaper, suffer the disadvantage of converting most of the electric energy into heat rather than light. This is easily realised by simply touching them”. 

The pilot project according to PURA boss, will install 2000 CFLs free of charge in 100 compound within the Greater Banjul Area to replace the inefficient incandescent bulbs. Each CFL bulb she noted has a lifetime of 6000 hours (or three years). Adding that the immediate impact of this, based on their projections, would save the average household between 200-300 dalasis every month.

Mr.Gaye encouraged the public to wisely use energy to save money and to ensure the equitable use of the limited resources.

He also thanked the community for letting them into their homes to replace inefficient incandescent bulbs with CFLs.

Investing in a developing country should be seen as a way of investing in local people and the development of their expertise. One major advantage of this small but tiny West African country of The Gambia is that the banking industry has and continues to show a steady improvement in the economic growth, thanks to ECOBANK Gambia Limited, the Pan African Bank.

Since joining the country’s banking industry, ECOBANK has spared no efforts to translate its slogan of the Pan African Bank into reality through a policy of continuous capital investment and aggressive expansion programmes.

Having carefully segmented its market towards meeting the demands of its rapidly growing customers, ECOBANK on Monday 25th August 2008 launched a US$2.5bn combined Rights Issue and Public Offer.

Seen as not just the largest offer on the continent but also the first simultaneous cross border public offering in Africa, the Ecobank’s Transnational Incorporated (ETI), will give opportunities for people to invest and buy shares into Ecobank.

According to Mr Fitzgerald Odonkor, Managing Director ECOBANK Gambia Limited, to be able to put an offer of this magnitude is an indication that the bank is on top of the ladder in the country’s financial industry.

He made this observation at a press conference held yesterday at the bank’s head office along

He added that the ETI expansion plan includes the opening of new subsidiaries and branches in other countries in the Middle East as well as representative offices and international banking facilities in the major financial centres that have substantial trading links with Africa.

The offer, he noted, would no doubt have a positive effect on the bank’s operations in The Gambia thus positioning itself as the leading bank not only in the country but Africa in general.

“We would see a lot more development on our operations in The Gambia and by extension the deepening of the country’s financial sub sector,” he said.

The ECOBANK boss also added that proceeds of the offer would be utilised to strengthen Ecobank’s growth plans to expand its network of branches in the countries where it currently operates as well as expand into new countries thereby consolidating its position as the leading Pan African banking group.

He also assured the general public of his bank’s continuous quality service delivery which, he added, has always been on top of the bank’s priorities.

Incorporated in 1985, ECOBANK has remained at the forefront of service innovation, customer service improvements and good corporate social responsibility, which have been key to the strong growth of the nation’s socio-economic development for the past years.

After so many years since it pioneered financial service delivery in almost all part of the globe, ECOBANK Gambia Limited has today earned the respect of majority of the banking public and gained recognition for the leadership role it continues to play in the country’s financial sector.

The works of an erudite Gambian scholar and academician, Dr. Sabarr S. Janneh, were recently showcased in the Southmead area of Bristol, United Kingdom.

Speaking to his audience, the fledgling author recounted his unsuccessful attempts at publishing his books in The Gambia and Senegal. Notwithstanding the financial cost involved, Dr. Janneh has now succeeded in publishing three of his thirteen books 'Learning from the Life of the Prophet Muhammad’, Mansa Tolo’(Coronation) and ’Saa-ba Mini-Yang baa’(Mighty Python) are the titles of the three books launched. The books are priced £14.99, £6.99 and £6.99 respectively on the advice of his publishers.

Commenting on the first title, Dr. Janneh said the book expels all expressions that Islam is a religion of violence. ‘Islam has come to civilise human beings, to elevate human beings from the lower stratum of life to the highest position and standard’, pointing out that humans are the viceroys of the Creator of everything - God. He went on to say that the religion of Islam condemns everything negative, destructive, dirty and harmful, noting that this is why the Qur’an, the message of Islam, teaches only peace and proper conduct.

Mansa Tolo(Coronation) has as its central theme the institution of democracy, which he said guarantees the right of all people to express their opinion while creating the atmosphere for them to be heard. The book touches on the need for the maintenance of the rule of law and harmonious living.

Saa-Ba Mini-Yang Ba(Mighty python) is a quintessential Mandingo folklore which explores the life of a beautiful girl who rejected all suitors in the search for a ‘perfect man’. This brings to life the art of story telling.
Dr. Janneh attended informal Islamic/Arabic lessons in his native Gunjur before proceeding to Al-Azhar Institute/University where he graduated with an LLB in Sharia and Law (general system) in 1981.

He studied Private and Public International law in the University of Berlin, Germany from 1982 to ‘85. Dr. Janneh’s educational conquest finally took him to the University of Amsterdam (UvA) where he obtained a (Docterandous, Ders) in 1989. The unrelenting Dr. Janneh completed a doctor of philosophy degree (Phd) in the Social Studies Department, University of Leiden, the Netherlands in 1993.

He has conducted private teaching in Egypt, Germany, the Netherlands and The Gambia. Dr. Janneh is now engaged in research and writing. His books in the line up for publication include academic, religious and folklore. Being a new comer in the publication business, Dr. Janneh has financial troubles meeting the asking prices of the publishing firms for all his books. He appeals for help. Institutions/persons wishing to help can contact him at \t “_blank” sabarrv@yahoo.co.uk or Abdou Sarr Janneh on telephone (+44)07881983385

As part of activities marking the official visit of the high powered delegation of the National Youth Service Corps of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, led by Brigadier General Yusuf Bomoi, the National Youth Service Scheme officially launched its website recently. Delivering his launch statement at an event held at the Joint Officers Mess, Kotu, NYSC Director General, Brig-General Bomoi, expressed satisfaction with the progress made by the NYSS in the recent past. He noted that the occasion was yet another mile stone in the annals of the NYSS and that it speaks volumes of the efforts of the scheme geared towards empowering the youth.

Brig-Gen Yusuf Bomoi, who spoke at length about the relevance of NYSS, also seized the opportunity to talk about the importance of the website to the scheme, noting that it will help to strengthen the ideals of the scheme. While commending staff of NYSS for what he called an indelible achievement, he promised to support NYSS in all its endeavours.

For his part, Marchel Mendy, NYSS Public Relations Officer said the website that can be browsed on www.nyssgam.org and contains some vital information about the programmes and activities which the scheme and its corps members are involved in.

Further still, he noted that the launch of the website is in line with NYSS’ ardent desire to change the mindset of the people about the scheme and also make known some critical issues of the scheme. “There is no denying that the importance of NYSS is immeasurable. However, a rather small percentage of the Gambian populace know about the existence and its programmes. This among other things prompted the launch of a website for the scheme”, he noted.

While urging people to visit the website, he expressed confidence that all browsers of the website will be adequately informed about what happens within the NYSS by the time they finish browsing.

The embassy of the United States of America in The Gambia recently launched a new website geared towards standardizing US embassies around the world.

The new site, http.banjul.usembassy.gov, is designed to increase customer services and standardize the United States embassy websites around the world.

Having been created to give a detailed and up-to-date information to the general public and    

to the US citizens on wide ranging issues, the new format is more user-friendly, has shorter load-times for those with slow internet connections, and contains information about American citizen services and visa application procedures and US policy.

Importantly, the site is also, among other things, expected to highlight the latest headlines from Washington, embassy news including offices and departments, American citizen services and general information about visas to the United States.

Also to be highlighted in the website is the issue of Non-Immigrant visas for students wishing to attend a university or other academic institution in the United States.

Briefing journalists about the new website on Wednesday, Ms Wendy A. Kennedy, Consular Officer at the US embassy, said the change was considered an important step in improving customer service and standardising US embassy websites around the world.

She added that the old website will be discontinued. She demonstrated the filing of the visa application form to journalists gatherted. "The US Embassy website is most visited by people seeking information about visa applications".

She revealed that the embassy has a special section called the "Visa to the US" that contains all the relavant informations needed to apply for a visa. "More importantly, this  section contains links to the necessary application forms.

For his part, Papa Njie US Embassy Public Diplomacy and Cultural Affairs Assistance,  believed that the informations posted at the site would better the communication between the embassy and the general public. He is of the view that the site would also be useful to journalists.