The
National Enterprise Development Initiative (NEDI) in collaboration with the
Rural Development Institute (RDI) has certified 40 youths and women in the area
of business plan development.
Held
at the Lower River Region town of Mansakonko, the training course was funded by
the Gambia Commercial Agricultural Value Chain Management (GCAV).
This
was the fifth batch of 40 youths and women, and the training course was aimed
at empowering them with the skills to develop bankable business plans.
It
was also meant to scale up youth involvement and participation in the
agricultural value chain, through the relevant projects under the ministry of
Agriculture, in line with the inter-ministerial partnership between the Youth
and Sports ministry and Agriculture ministry.
This
project came after the two institutions realised that the young entrepreneurs
lack the capacity to produce standard or bankable business proposals, to
attract funding for their various businesses from donors and projects.
Landing
B. Sanneh, general manager, National Enterprise Development Initiative (NEDI),
said this was the fourth in a series of training sessions that NEDI in
collaboration with RDI, with funding from GCAV, organised for the youths and
women of the country.
He
described the training course as very important for the development of the
youths and women of The Gambia, saying youth participation in the agricultural
value chain is critical to the achievement of the food security of the country.
He
said their partnership came to change the diet, shift away from the usual
approach of workshops and training to more practical and applicable ways of
getting young people being involved in entrepreneurship, and to be more
enterprising on what they do to earn their living and secure them employment.
According
to him, the training course registered success and they would not turn their
back; they would move on and on to get more young people develop business
plans, so that they would be able to come up with their own enterprises.
“We
as young people should have a starting point, it is possible, entrepreneurship
starts with mind, is not the action, once you are able to think of what you are
going to do and you start doing something in that line to get to where you want
to go, you are an entrepreneur.”
He
added that since the training activity started, youths were able to develop
bankable proposals and NEDI helps them to summit them on their behalf to the
projects.
“This
will continue, if you develop your plans you have the opportunity to come to
NEDI; we will refine it properly, and make it more marketable and help you to
summit it to other partners”.
He
challenged the youths to do more, saying they have to take responsibility
themselves first, and then of the community and the country.
Salifu
Puye, the governor in the Lower River Region, said as entrepreneurs they need
to be persistent, and any venture they are into needs to be related to their
needs and the community.
“Evaluate
and monitor whatever you are doing as entrepreneurs, and keep well your
records.
“Through
this you will able to know your successes and failures, advantages and
disadvantages, and this will help you to move ahead wisely.”
Puye
challenged them to be networking, and to build partnerships for the development
of their various businesses.
He
advised them to respect time and work according to it, as with that they could
achieve a lot in their businesses and other ventures.
Abdoulie
Touray, monitoring and evaluation specialist, Central Project Coordinating Unit
(CPCU), said NEDI is not only a partner, but a very genuine partner.
“By
March 2016, our implementation rate was just about 46 per cent; likewise our
disbursement rate, but NEDI is one of the partners who have helped us to
improve our implementation rate; likewise the disbursement rate from 46 per
cent to 56 per cent, as of November, and is even more than that rate.”
He
said NEDI is one of the IPs that is moving the GCAV project.
“It is a World Bank and Gambia government-funded
project looking at the value chain from seed, production, harvesting,
marketing, processing until you get the food on your table.”
He
continued: “We’re proud to help NEDI; we know a business plan is a problem; the
banks and other donors know it. These matching grants are not moving because
groups and youths have limited capacity when it comes to developing proposals
or business plans. This is why we are supporting NEDI so that youths and women
can come up with bankable business plans, where they can access funds.”
Ousman
Sonko, lead trainer, said they highly value the training course, saying it was
hand-on and everybody was doing their individual work supported by mentors
step-by-step.
“We
want to make sure that at the end of the day you are able to defend your work
and help others.
“In
life we have to be positive; we cannot continue to blame our parents,
authorities and economy. We must start; better late than never. Young people
are ready, given the space and resources, they are ready.”
Yaya
Colley, board member of NEDI, said GCAV is not only their partner, but a
genuine partner, because they support them based on their initiatives and
commitment with young people as a national enterprise development initiative.
He
said everybody could not sit in an office, saying the most successful people in
the world are entrepreneurs, because they have income on a daily basis.
“This entire agricultural project cannot fund
you 100 per cent. There is a certain percentage that has to come from you,” he
said.
He
challenged the youths to do some savings, saying it is very vital in the
development of their business and for paying their counterpart contribution or
percentage to the agricultural projects.
