Abubakary Jawara, the Chief Executive Officer of GACH Global Company and renowned philanthropist, has been named Gambian of The Year 2024 by The Standard newspaper.
As it is the tradition, the laureate sits down with The Standard for a question-and-answer interview called Bantaba Special. Over the weekend, Omar Bah, The Standard’s chief reporter who has extensively covered the activities of Gach Global and the Jawara Foundation sat down with the 2024 laureate for this interview. Excerpts:
The Standard: Let me begin by saying congratulations to you, Alhaji Abubakary Jawara on being named Gambian of the Year 2024 by The Standard newspaper. You have received a plethora of awards here and abroad, the last being Senegal’s Jambarr Award, a fortnight ago, but what does being named Gambian of the Year 2024 mean to you?
It means a lot to me. In fact, it has been my dream to win the Gambian of the Year Award. I think the award is well deserved because since I relocated my business to The Gambia, I have not had a year like 2024. It will remain a memorable year in my life and business journey. My biggest achievement of the year is the basalt project, which was successfully negotiated between GACH Global and a Cape Verdean company following Senegal’s decision to stop the exportation of basalt. I am particularly happy because it is the first time that a Gambian company is importing basalt from a country different from Senegal. I decided to venture into the business because I believe the government and the country need it badly. We are also committed to selling it at a cheaper price compared to the one that was coming from Senegal. The agreement with Cape Verde is reciprocal. because GACH Global is also going to take Gambian manufactured products like cement and other goods to Cape Verde. So, I want to thank the government for all the support at the ports and for allocating us land to store the basalt. The government also stood by us to ensure that we get the best quality through the guidance of the Ministry of Works. We involved the government in all the process to ensure that whatever we are bringing into the country meets the required standard. So, in the final analysis, this award will motivate me to continue doing what I was doing and even more.
Abubakary Jawara is a household name in The Gambia, but tell us about your origins and early life.
I was born in Gambisara, Upper River Region. My father was Alhaji Bejaejei Jawara, God be pleased with him. My mother is Aja Fatou Camara, may Allah be pleased with her. I spent my childhood in Gambisara until I reached 18. I did my madrassa [studies] there as understanding the religion [of Islam] was a priority in my family. My father was a businessman who travelled far and wide. But I grew up under my grandfather who died in 1991. It was my brother Hagi Jawara who was in Angola who bought me a ticket to travel to Angola. I went to Nigeria and then Angola and spent nine years there. My brother taught me how to do business for seven years before I gained my own independence to start my own business.
Your holdings company is called GACH Global. What does GACH mean?
GACH is an abbreviation of Gambia, Angola China and Hong Kong. I founded it in Hong Kong in 2007 with branches in Angola and The Gambia. It signifies the fact that I am a Gambian who left for Angola and China for economic reasons. So, because I am a Gambian who worked in Angola and China I decided to name my company after the three countries. Now GACH is in Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya, and Somalia. I am very happy and proud that I named the company GACH Global.
That is a big group. So how rich are you?
[Smiles] What do you mean when you say rich? For me, nobody is rich in this world. Being rich to me is not about getting a lot of money in the bank but being able to love and be loved. That ability to be surrounded by people and you are able to make them and your family happy, that is richness. Not one’s bank balance.
There are many Gambian businessmen, perhaps richer than you, but your philanthropy like that of Momodou Turo Darboe, twice a recipient of this award, stands out. Why did you choose to be so active in philanthropy through your Jawara Foundation?
I did it because God told us to assist when we are able to. I am merely following in my father’s footsteps. This is how I was raised. If you ask those who know my grandfather and my father, they will tell you that philanthropy runs in the blood of the Jawara family. My grandfather used to pay compound rates for many villages in Basse, including Gambisara. He is a no nonsensical man who did not associate himself with cruel people. I remember my father once told me how he would hand over everything he worked for to his father whenever he travels to The Gambia from Angola. This is when I met him in Mecca during the hajj before his death and handed him all my earnings for that year. He cried. When I asked him why, he said he cried because he was doing the same thing for his father. That was the day he told me that whatever I do in this world, whether good or bad, it is written in a book, and one day I will be accountable for it. So, we believe in sharing and supporting the poor. You see, this wealth is worthless to me if I am not able to use it to make others smile. Those who know me will tell you that Jawara puts a lot of emphasis on supporting the needy. The greatest satisfaction for me is when I start seeing my employees progress in life. When I see that my employees are happy, I feel very good because I see that, with the small steps I have taken, I’ve managed to change a few people’s lives, and I think I can do more.
How much money have you expended in your philanthropy work over the past year?
I cannot remember how much I spend, but every single day or month, we help people directly or indirectly, and ninety percent of this is done underground [not publicised]. It’s only the ten percent we are showing on the media to motivate others to do more. We are doing the little things we are doing because of God and nothing else. We do everything in good faith. We have now made it an obligation to support the needy during Ramadan, Eid-ul Fitr, Laila-tul Qadr, and Tobaski. Every year, we give 15 or 20 bulls for the Laila-tul Qadr, 600 rams on Tobaski, and during Ramadan we give 5,000 bags of rice, 2,000 bags of sugar, and 1,000 cartons of tomatoes, among other things. These are only a few things that we invite the media to broadcast, but we also give scholarships, organise football tournaments, fence women’s gardens and football fields. In my home village, Gambisara, I spent over D3 million on their football field.
You have given generously to Islamic causes over the year: sponsored a national Qur’anic recital; contributed to the purchase of an ambulance for Gambian pilgrims on Hajj, gave tonnes of money to the Islamic Council, and built a D25 million mosque at your Bakau New Town home. What does your religion mean to you?
Everything I do is based on my religion, and Islam teaches us to be kind, humble, sociable, peaceful, and teach our children humility. That is why we are doing everything to support the religion. We sponsor Qur’anic recitals across the country. We did it last year and are preparing to organise it this year as well. We are sponsoring it in memory of my father. For the mosque, we have built several mosques across the country and took hundreds of Gambians to Mecca. We also have a package to bring back Gambian migrants who voluntarily want to return, provide daily feeding money for the poor, and we do this without discriminating against people based on tribes and religion. Just recently, we have mounted 600 solar lights in Gambisara worth over D10 million. We have also donated solar lights and boreholes across the country.
You are undoubtedly a very successful businessman, but you have your fair share of controversies and scandals. Let’s talk about them. First was the brouhaha that followed your importation of hunting guns some years ago. Opposition elements accused you of gunrunning for the president and the government. What do you have to say to that?
I think people have now understood that I am not the first Gambian to bring hunting guns into the country. Alhagie Njie ‘Girigara’ and others were bringing hunting guns. I still receive calls from people asking me about the guns because they are very useful to some people. It is not like we were selling guns randomly to people. We followed all due processes and people were screened before they were allowed to buy those guns. It is four years now since the police said they were investigating the matter, but have you heard anything from them? That is because they have no case against me. We had no intention to cause any harm… We cannot bring guns to destabilise this country. So, it was politicised, and if I tell you the kind of people who bought those guns you will be surprised!
Then the lawsuits against Momodou Sabally, Khadijah Kebbeh, and GamPetroleum.
Since I started my business, I passed through a lot of things. Coming to your question, I am a law-abiding citizen who believes in due process. I took those people to court because they wanted to take advantage of me, so I had to take them to court. I have since reconciled with some of them, but for Khadijatou Kebbeh, I am waiting for the court to decide, and hopefully the truth will come out one day.
Then sand mining. Critics say it is destroying the beaches and wetlands in the Kombos?
Sand mining didn’t start with my company. Mining of black sand started in 1926 and when Jawara came, the British were mining black sand, and then Jammeh came, and that was the time those areas were destroyed. GACH Global’s mining is the most civilised mining in the world. No chemicals. No pollution. We do simple mining. And when we finish, we rehabilitate the areas. If you recall the Janneh Commission went to these mining sites and showed Gambians how these places were damaged. GACH didn’t cause that damage there. I am even trying to rehabilitate some of those places. Go to Sanyang and Brufut and see. We have planted a lot of trees to restore the areas. Also, we are the first company that holds a mining licence in this country, and we assumed our social corporate responsibility. We are working closely with the communities we operate in, and we deliver as agreed. We have since paid more than D300 million in royalties to the government. No company has paid that in the history of this country, and every year we pay US$100,000 to Geology Department for overseas training of their staff. We build markets, fence gardens, and every six months we give the communities D3 million. Go to Senegal, Sierra Leone and other countries and ask how much mining companies are paying in royalties. It is less than what we are paying, and that is because we understand The Gambia doesn’t have other natural resources. In Senegal, royalty on one tonne is less than US$11 and in some countries it is US$9, but GACH is paying US$45 per tonne. We want to get things right, but despite that, there is too much hatred against us.
And the most recent being the basalt depot at Salagi Forest. The communities and environmental activists say you are cutting trees and destroying the fauna and the flora of the precious ecosystem?
We didn’t grab the land in Salagi. When we decided to start bringing 60,000 metric tonnes of basalt from Cape Verde… We applied to the government to give us land for storage. They initially identified some places for us in Banjul, but they later realised that they were occupied, so they decided to allocate a place for us in Salagi. It is not like we went there to grab the land. It was allocated to us and it is free space. We didn’t cut a single tree there. We went through all the necessary processes, and I want the Gambian people to understand that this basalt is going to make things easy for them. GACH is just trying to fight for The Gambia.
Your detractors, and you have many of them, accuse you of being in cahoots with President Adama Barrow and getting preferential treatment from him. Is that true?
That is not true. It is just that President Barrow is humble and has a good relationship with all genuine business people in this country. For me, I respect the position and not the person because President Barrow will go but The State House will remain, and whosoever is there, I will work with the person. It is my constitutional right to respect my president. I think all these things are happening because people misunderstood me to be a politician. I want to use this opportunity to make it abundantly clear that I am not a politician, and I don’t belong to any political party.
So you are not a supporter of President Barrow and his National People’s Party?
I support President Barrow but I don’t belong to any political party. I support the president because of the development projects. All of us are seeing the Bertil Harding Highway and other road infrastructures brought about by his government.
You famously or infamously gave money to the imams fighting to decriminalise female circumcision or female genital mutilation in the country. Why did you do so?
That is not true. That is not my area. If anybody said I give money to imams to campaign for the decriminalisation of FGM, he is lying. I challenge any imam to come out and prove that I have given him money for that purpose.
Now, what happened to your tomato factory?
It is doing fine, and you can ask the Gambian women, they will tell you it is the best in this country. It is in the market every day.
What is the ultimate dream for you as a businessman and your GACH Global group?
[Smiles] I have achieved one of my dreams, which is winning the Gambian of The Year award. I thank the management of The Standard newspaper for giving me this award, and I want to assure the Gambian people that I will continue to do more. We are planning to go into agriculture through a project with the Zimbabwean government. We are working closely with GiEPA to get this done as soon as possible. We have also secured two private jets for rent. We are doing all this to create jobs for Gambians. As we speak, I employ more than 200 Gambians, and I want to do more. We called on all Gambians to support us.
Thank you Alhaji Abubakary Jawara.
Thank you Mr Omar Bah and all the staff and readers of The Standard newspaper. I wish you all a happy and very prosperous 2025.
