By Binta Jaiteh
Ecobank Gambia limited has ramped up financial support for Gambia’s AFCON campaign by donating D1.5 million to the National Coordinating Committee (NCC).
The pan-African bank’s donation was the latest financial boost to Gambia’s dream of earning the championship title in Ivory Coast.
Speaking at a ceremony held at the bank’s HQ on KairabaAvenue to hand over the cash, the Managing Director of Ecobank Gambia limited, Mr John Nyaba, described the bank’s intervention as a testimony of its belief in “Africa as Our Homeland”.
He stated that the bank is poised to support any form of development in Africa, adding that the bank is keen on sports development in The Gambia.
“Besides sponsoring the national team, we know that football has to be transmitted so that everyone can get access. For that being the case, we will support GRTS with D750,000 and other local radios,” he disclosed. He added that the bank’s sponsorship of the radio stations and GRTS totalled D1.3M which, he said, is a glaring indication of their support and commitment to AFCON. He pointed out that the bank contributed D6.1M to the 2024 AFCON.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Bakary Badjie, describedEcobank’s donation to the NCC and overall contribution to AFCON as significant, saying the D6M-plus that the bank injected into this year’s AFCON is not insignificant.
“We see this as the beginning of a relationship between Ecobank, the Ministry and the Sport fraternity at large. Sport is not a public sector financing industry but a private sector financing industry because it is a very expensive industry that the public sector cannot handle alone,” Mr Badjie admitted.
He said this AFCON has opened greater opportunities for his ministry to partner with private institutions.
“We, therefore, thanked Ecobank for the wonderful support,”said the sport minister.