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Empretec sponsors 30 stalls at Trade Fair Gambia

Apr 25, 2017, 10:20 AM | Article By: Adam Jobe

Empretec Gambia, a flagship programme of the Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA), has sponsored 30 stalls at the ongoing trade fair at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.

The stalls are sponsored for Empretec-trained entrepreneurs involved in a wide range of entrepreneurship activities including food processing, fashion, agriculture and beverages.

Empretec has trained 100s of small and medium-size enterprises on ways to grow and expand their businesses.

Sadibou Jammeh, communications manager at GIEPA, said the trade fair is not only making a lot of changes to the Empretec-trained exhibitors, but also providing them with lots of opportunities to network with other businesses that come to the fair.

According to him, the essence of the trade fair is for the entrepreneurs to grow their businesses by networking with different individuals and to interact with one another.

He said the expectation is that at the end of the two-week exhibition, the Empretec participants would make a lot of networks that would lead to the growth and development of their businesses.

Mr Jammeh said the Empretect training had “rapidly changed” the mindsets of many people towards entrepreneurship.

A beneficiary of the Empretec trade fair package, Adam Touray-Bah, CEO of SASS Cosmetology and Skills Academy, expressed gratitude for the opportunity given to her by Empretec to showcase the products and services offered at her enterprise.

She said: “A lot of people have known SASS to be a store that sells cosmetics but the trade fair has given us the opportunity to demonstrate our work and to show the public what SASS Skills Academy is all about.”

Rose Fatou Manga, CEO of Rose Afric, who is also exhibiting courtesy of Empretec, said her business is engaged in recycling old bags and shoes.

She said the rationale for the business is to promote African fabrics by recycling the old things into African wax.

She expressed gratitude to Empretec for making her exhibition at the trade fair possible.

“I, personally, could not have afforded the money to pay for the stall here but they sponsored us here and we are really making use of the opportunity,” she said.

Jainaba Tamba, a food processor, commended Empretec for giving her the opportunity to showcase her products at the trade fair.