Foreign owned companies with Gambian management

In our relentless drive to create awareness about who is who among the Gambian youths within business circles, and to surface businesses and companies that we know so little about but are in our midst doing and contributing a great deal by way of taxes and taking up some social responsibility. I am even more impressed by the presence of some very shrewd young Gambians at the top of things.

Many of these companies are mostly fronted by Gambians by way of partners, management and staffing and they here because the Gambia is Good (GIG) in business sense.

The economy is booming and all the signs of a healthy market conditions are presently showing their faces in The Gambia not to mention the willingness of a Government that is ready, willing and able to welcome every investor from any part of the globe who has something to offer to the Gambian people and Africa for that matter.

Gambia Is Good and that is the verdict of 99% of the people I talk to in the business arena and Gambia’s strategic location is of immense advantage and remember for example only 12% of the total imported rice into the country is consume here. Gambia Is Good and business cannot be better than any other time than presently.

This week I paid a courtesy call on TAI TEK Ltd one of few Taiwanese companies to try our shore and by the feel of things they like what they doing here and what they getting here. This is where I met some very hard working Gambian youths headed by Mr. Ansumana Manneh – MANAGER working side by side with a Mr Takea Su the owner a Taiwanese to contribute their iota to the general Gambian development and progress. I was impressed with what I saw and I had an interview with Mr. Manneh and I wish to reproduce the extract here for our beautiful readership.

Pot-shot interview with Tai Tek Front Man

Name - Ansumana Manneh

Name of business - TAI TEK Ltd

Line of Business - Motor cycles, Spare parts, Agricultural inputs, and servicing of motor cycles.

What is your position here? - Manager

Do you have any shares in this company? - No

Your other engagements - Farming

Your business domicile - 43 Buckle Street

If you have something to change in the Gambian youth what will it be? - Attitude of sitting down and expecting things will work out.

Polygamy or monogamy? -Monogamy

Why? - I just want a small and happy family and I think monogamy is the way for that.

Who is your greatest Gambian of all times? –Dr Alaghie Yaya AJJ Jammeh (current president)

Who is your greatest African of all times? -My father and whatever I am today is because of him.

Best region in the Gambia? - NBR

Why?-Because is where I hail from and there is a vast land for agriculture and you are all invited to NBR for Back to the Land Crusade.

Best diet? - Sauce Farign

What school does your children go to? - Presently my child is at nursery school in my Village-Ginak.

Public school or private? - Good public school.

Why? - There are good teachers and it is within our preach of government involvement in the way our children are raised.

Best movie you ever watch? - John Rambo

Best hobby? - Football/soccer

Rain season or dry season? - Dry Season when there is less farm activity and the streets are free from mosquito breeding spaces.

What do you think about foreign aids to Africa? - Is bad because it is encouraging us to be lazy. With medicine it is ok but for the food I think it is wrong.

Why are African people so poor when Africa is indeed the richest continent? - We cannot exploit our own resources by ourselves and where we go into agreements and contract we are cheated plus we are not working too hard to develop and change things.

With your idea of white people can you use one word to sum them up? - They are hard working.

What is the best quality you look forward in a woman? - Love and kindness

What is the best quality you look for in a neighbour? - Helpful

What is the best quality you look for in a friend? - honesty

What is your best colour? - As a farmer my best colour is green

One word to describe the youth - Promising

One word to describe Africa - Great continent

One word to describe Gambian music - Educative

One word to describe Gambian Football - Developing

Best newspaper in the Gambia? - Daily Observer

If you are the president for a day what will you change? - Help change the attitude of the people to be more productive.

Highest level of education? - HTC, HTC brought me all this as that is where I got the connection to work with Taiwan owned company.

Who is your boss? - Mr Takea Su

Married or single? - Married to one wife and two daughters

If you meet the president what will you tell him if you are given the chance? - I would like to tell him about the plight of my native people.

What should he do about them? - He should help solve their problems in a good road network, health centre and pipe borne water.

But there are health visitors in and around your village - Yes, they come every fortnight, but my people need medical attention on a daily basis. No road and no first aid is also another constrain.

But the president has built a good road in the NBR from Essau to Laminkoto - Yes but they should do more so that they reach all satellite villages and help in the fight against medical and other facilities exclusion.

What is your final say? - Am very happy for the interview and I hope it will happen again. It is a strike in the right direction to encourage the youth. I will advice the youth like me to be more hard working, focus, be self reliant. I Thank the Daily Observer for the gesture and Good luck Mr Camara.

A two-man delegation from the Association of Small-Scale Enterprise in Tourism (ASSET), Sheirk Tijan Nyan and Daouda Nyang, returned home on October 17, 2007, after attending a two-day working visit to Dakar, Senegal to finalise the arrangement of the MBOKA 2007, and the Senegambia Tourism Fair, due to take place from 31st October to 4th November, this year.

The event is jointly organised by ASSET The Gambia and the National Organisation for Tourism Integration (ONITS).

The event was not meant for exhibition, but to expose them to export markets.

According to Sheikh Tijan Nyang, who led the delegation and doubles as the Chairman of the Trade Fair Committee, tourism is playing an important part in the development of the sub-region, not only in economic terms, but also in the preservation of our rich cultural heritage and the environment. “To develop tourism and indeed our whole economy along sustainable guides, we have to take into consideration, socio-cultural, environmental and economic principles. This is why this fair is themed under the motto,” he said.

He revealed that the event will be held in Place De La Independence in Dakar, to be presided by Alhagie Abdoulie Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal and Angella Colley, Secretary of State for Tourism in The Gambia, together with her delegation from The Gambia, including Kaliba Senghore, Director-General, Gambia Tourism Authority,

The participants and sponsors to this event will also include the association of Fashion Designers of The Gambia, Food Processors Association, Wood Carvers Association (WCA), Society of Gambian Sculptors (SGS), Eco-tourism Camps (EC), National Beekeepers Association (NBA), Solar Project Gambia (SPG), Gambia Hotel Association (GHA), Gambia Tourism Authority (GTA), Gambia Tourism and Travel Association (GTTA), Slok Air International, Gambia is Good (GIG) among others.

The Gambia , he said, is considered to be one of the leading countries in responsible tourism conference, to be conducted by Daouda Nyang, Development Manager for ASSET, and moderated by Adama Bah, Chairman of ASSET.

It   will be chaired by Kaliba Senghore, Director-General of the Gambia Tourism Authority.   Other events of the fair include various cultural events, fashion shows and an award ceremony.

Participants will also include officials of the Nigeria Tourism Office, Ghana Tourism Federation and Senegalese tourism stakeholders.

He stressed that the invitation to both Ghanaian and Nigerian tourism stakeholders, is meant to continue the already established regional tourism partnership development master plan.