Seven recipients out of the eleven are female who presented their business plan to venture into as hair dressing, tailoring, shop keeping, among others. The grant and loan facilities were provided by GAMRUPA in partnership with Christian Jorgensen, a Danish who is a member of GAMRUPA-Gambia.
Each recipient will pay half of what they received within a year to enable the benefactors to extend the opportunity to other young people.
National coordinator and treasurer of GAMRUPA, Kalifa Kanteh said the idea of the initiative targets discouraging youth from venturing into irregular migration by creating opportunities for them. “This is the pilot of the initiative and we hope to support another batch of young people once the first beneficiaries pay the half of what they received,” he said.
Before receiving the facilities, the eleven beneficiaries went through a seven-day business concept training provided by the Association of Farmers Education and Training (AFET).
Mr. Kanteh believes that the support would create space for young people to explore their business talents and serve as inspiration to other young people thereby encouraging them to stay in their villages while making good livelihoods that can help them and their families.
GAMRUPA’s partner in the initiative, Christian Jorgensen said young people have great role to play in the development of The Gambia, saying the 11 beneficiaries would join a host of other young Gambians who are working hard in the entrepreneurship sector.
“It is our commitment to continue supporting young people for increased engagement into enterprises that can change their lives, their families and the country.”
Lamin Camara, chairperson of GAMRUPA assured that they would continue to support young people toward the realisation of their dream targets in the fields they want to specialise in, saying no matter what challenge, they would continue to offer lending support.
Kawsu Konteh, a trainer from AFET described the initiative as a worthy cause that can encourage young people to stay in their villages and make good living thereby discouraging irregular and rural-urban migrations.
Speaking on behalf of the parents of the beneficiaries, Sona Saho emphasised the importance of skill acquisition among young people for sustainable development.
One of the beneficiaries said that was a happy moment for them because they are not only receiving the support but they were also trained on how to manage the monies given to them.
