The initiative is geared towards supporting and promoting Gambian made products and entrepreneurs. The supermarkets promoting the initiative include Right Choice Supermarket, My Supermarket and Pick and Save Supermarket.
Sarata Conateh, GCCI director of programmes and operations, emphasised the significance of the initiative, saying GCCI has been pushing it for a long time. “It is all anchored on market access particularly for small and medium enterprises,” she noted.
She said market access does not have to be only international, saying it can start locally by active promotion and support to local entrepreneurs and businesses that can do more to improve their quality and way of business.
Explaining how the initiative came about, chairperson of Gambia India Business Council, Modou N.S. Njie said the Gambia India Business Taskforce was established in 2018 to address some of the challenges Gambian businesses face. "Some of the challenges we want to be addressing is lack of access to market for entrepreneurs to market their products."
According to him, they had a unanimous decision that supermarkets in The Gambia, starting with Indian and Lebanese supermarkets should take it upon themselves to play their parts to promote Made in Gambia products. He said that is one of the ways they can uplift the economy. “If we rely on imports it will be a bit challenging for us to develop as a nation,” he said.
Representing ComAfrique, Isatou Jallow thanked the supermarkets that took up the role and The Gambia India business council for the initiative to promote Gambian products in the market.
According to her, the best method to enable Gambian products to be well recognised in international markets is to supply the local markets. “It is only possible if we start small and learn step by step and this is the first step to help people to promote local products.”
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