Belgian management and consulting firm IBF International in partnership with RCM Gambia implementing sub-component (1b) of the Tourism Diversification and Resilience Project which primarily focuses on providing support to domestic tourism related businesses that supply goods and services, recently organised a workshop to foster a cordial and win-win relations between lead firms and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Over 50 businesses have been selected as the first cohort of the programme. These selected businesses have been undergoing months of coaching and business incubation to enable them meet quality standards for their products and services in order to be purchased by lead firms such as hotels, tour operators and other major industry players.
The cohort will also receive grants for up to $50,000 to help their businesses grow, become more resilient and be integrated into the tourism value chain.
According to Hamid Marah, team leader sub-component 1b, the objective of the buyer-led workshops which opens at the Kombo Beach Hotel on Thursday is to create a platform where challenges are shared and addressed.
He described both lead firms and MSMEs as parties willing to partner and do business for the development of destination Gambia. “Our objective is to ensure that we match the MSMEs and the lead firms. We have a situation where the MSMEs are saying they have products that they produce but they cannot sell them to the hotels and large companies and lead firms on the other hand will also tell you they would want to buy products locally but they struggle to get the right quantity, right quality and reliability. So there is a mismatch between the two and this event is therefore helpful to bring them together, so that lead firms will have a clear sense of what is available out there but also the MSMEs will get to understand what are the concerns of the lead firms.”
Hamid added that the workshop will not only bridge the gap between lead firms and micro, small and medium enterprises but also avail them platform to build confidence and business relationships over time. “This is not a competition. We are all collaborators. The competition is outside the country. We should all collaborate to make Gambia a preferred destination in terms of seamless experience, in terms of quality of service and customer service.”
He thanked the Djeliba Leisure Group which is managing Kombo Beach Hotel for accepting to host the maiden event of this buyer-supplier engagement which he said will be organised in other hotels. “We are going to have these workshops across other hotels.
We want to make it a norm so that buying what is made from the Gambia becomes the norm for all the lead firms in the tourism sector.” Hamid described the impacts of the project as already visible and manifestive in the quality of products, packaging quality and marketing strategies.
Omar Jawara, a representative of the Djeliba Leisure Group welcomed the initiative as timely. He said the group is committed to work with selected MSMEs and ensure they purchase their services. According to him, there are a lot of items that are imported by lead firms while they are available in the country, adding that with stronger collaboration between leadfirms and MSMEs the trend can be reversed.
Mr Jawara said the local sector needs to be supported in recognition of its crucial role in the growth and development of the tourism industry which is the largest employer.
Anupa Aryal Pant from the World Bank which funded the 5 year project, emphasised the importance of integrating local businesses and service providers into the tourism value chain which will ultimately help the private sector to thrive and become the engine of growth in the Gambia. “We want this partnership to be a win-win situation for both parties,” she said.
