By Sirrah Touray
The Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST) opened a four‑day workshop to validate final designs for two Centres of Excellence under the $13 million Gambia Resilience, Inclusion, Skills and Equity (RISE) project. The workshop is held with the World Bank and the Central Project Coordination Unit (CPCU).
Permanent Secretary Isatou Auber said the workshop marks a decisive step toward constructing Centres of Excellence in agribusiness and fisheries and aquaculture. She called the centres hubs for skills, innovation and job creation that align with tertiary education reform and decentralisation. Auber described the meeting as a technical review of reports and drawings and urged government, academia, industry, partners, civil society and communities to ensure the designs meet national needs and Centre of Excellence standards.
Hydroplan Team Leader Andreas Bellout said the firm finalised designs for the fisheries centre at Tujereng and the agribusiness centre at Demban after completing inception, preliminary, schematic and final design stages in agreement with MoHERST and CPCU. The submission includes more than 700 engineering and architectural plans and over 2,000 pages of bills of quantities and specifications.
Tujereng will comprise 31 buildings and Demban 27, together totalling more than 21,000 square metres. Both campuses will feature internal roads, integrated water and power systems, fire protection with underground tanks, and four separate drainage networks for domestic wastewater, fish processing, livestock operations and stormwater. Bellout thanked MoHERST and CPCU for extending the design timeline to match the project’s scale.
Minister Professor Pierre Gomez said the $13 million RISE allocation will finance construction, equipment, curriculum development and trainer capacity building. The University of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology will manage the centres to reduce dependence on foreign labour and boost youth employment.
The Tujereng Fisheries Centre is equipped with classrooms, laboratories, administration, entrepreneurship and innovation hub, staff housing, canteen, fish‑processing hall, aquaculture units, boat construction and repair hall, smoking and drying areas, research facility and multifunction hall. It offers certificate and diploma programmes in fisheries management, aquaculture, fish farming and processing, plus short courses in incubation, entrepreneurship and boat repair.
Meanwhile, the Demban Agribusiness Centre is also equipped with classrooms, laboratories, administration, entrepreneurship and incubation spaces, staff housing, canteen, livestock housing, food‑processing hall, composting facility, greenhouse and seed unit, TVET academy and multifunction hall. It offers programmes in agriculture, agribusiness, agro‑processing and agricultural engineering (mechanical repair and irrigation emphasis), and short courses in business development, horticulture, poultry and animal husbandry.
Gomez said 16 Gambians have completed master’s training in agribusiness and fisheries in Malawi and Turkey; 10 more instructors will receive advanced training and one‑year practical attachments, and 10 additional students will be recruited for targeted skills training such as irrigation. He confirmed designs are informed by site visits and aligned with the strategic investment plan, equipment requirements, National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority standards, and African Centres of Excellence best practice.
An Environment and Social Impact Assessment is at an advanced stage, and competency‑based curricula is being developed under the Gambia National Qualification Framework. Gomez urged participants to submit detailed technical input during validation; construction will commence after design approval and procurement.
