By Lamarana S. Jallow, Information Officer, MoYS
National Enterprise Development Initiative (NEDI) under the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS), Wednesday, November 17th concluded five-day entrepreneurship training for forty youth migrant returnees in The Gambia.
The training was held at the Trans-Gambia Lodge in Pakalinding village, Lower River Region (LRR).
The training was funded by the European Union through the International Organization for Migration The Gambia (IOM) and it was meant to contribute to strengthening the governance of migration and ensuring the sustainable reintegration of migrant returnees in The Gambia.
Participants were exposed to entrepreneurial idea generation, financial management and negotiation.
Bringing the training to an end, Abass Bah, General Manager of NEDI thanked IOM and the European Union on behalf of The Gambia Government for their support.
He underscored the importance of skills development while positing that one does not need to sit in the office to succeed in life.
The General Manager noted that since the establishment of NEDI, the institution has been working hard with other government agencies and partners to empower young people through enterprise development, as a means of sustainable employment creation and better livelihood.
He explained that the institution conducts training in basic business skills competencies and provides micro-funding for youth and women to operate small and medium businesses in the formal and the informal sectors; as well as providing business advice to youth and women entrepreneurs to ensure business sustainability.
Mr Bah informed returnees that the government is committed to youth empowerment. “This is why supportive partners like IOM are working with the government to support migrant returnees to uplift their knowledge on business skills.”
He thanked the government through Ministry of Youth and Sports for supporting and empowering NEDI to conduct such training for Gambian youths.
He expressed hope that the training will help the returnees to acquire essential management skills and link them to other partners for financial and technical support to start and reinforce their businesses within the country.
Ousman Sanneh, Youth Chairperson for Lower River Region and NEDI board member, gave an overview of the entrepreneurial spirit.
He urged the trainees to implement the knowledge gained, and thanked IOM for partnering with NEDI to create employment and enterprise opportunities for the youth.
Pierre Correa, Enterprise Development Officer assured of
NEDI’s commitment to supporting youths through mentoring and advisory services required to start and run a business.
The participants were awarded certificates of participation, and urged to register their businesses, develop viable business plans, as well as create and run their businesses sustainably.
Yusupha Jawneh, a migrant returnee, spoke on behalf of the participants. He thanked the IOM and Gambia Government for facilitating their return to The Gambia and acknowledged that the training was very useful. While promising to implement the knowledge gained, Jawneh urged young people not to venture into irregular migration.
