Youths doing businesses in the rural communities have been speaking about their challenges in the venture.
Saikou Saidy, a young businessman from Upper River Region (URR), said: “I started this business in 2016 but facing several financial challenges and mostly takes Bank over drafts which has high commission rate. Electricity is also another challenge I faced.
“After attending the REVCEL training and ELITE 2016 National Youth Summer Camp I acquired knowledge on how to plan and manage a business. After that training, I put up my business plan and today, thank God that I am successfully running my own catering business.”
He said though he has no permanent shop but he does get catering contracts from GYIN Gambia and other organizations.
Aminata A Saho, also a young business owner from Lower River Region (LRR) said it was back in 2005 that, she started her own business with twenty dalasi (D20.00). “I was selling cold water and ice juice using a bicycle roaming the town and neighboring villages.”
She said that is how she continued to save her profits until when she was at Senior Secondary School and was able to get her own fridge to do her business.
“Today, I spend D750 in every two days to prepare my ice juice and cold water. I also used to sell up to D600 daily and gain D1360 in two days, and a profit of D400 in every two days. As we speak I have a savings account with Trust Bank Gambia Ltd,” she said.
She said the money she is saving is greatly helping her in her skills training at Girl’s Guide and as well his family.
“I also attended the GYIN Gambia Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Information Technology (ELIT 2016) National Youth Summer Camp held at the Agricultural Rural Farmer Training Centre in Jenoi and the Building Resilience against Food Insecurity in the Sahel (P2RS) among others,” she added.
Marokey Manneh, a business owner from North Bank Region (NBR) said she gained a lot after attending the GYIN Gambia ELIT 2016.
“That training gave me the opportunity to interact with my fellow youth, especially those in the business. It was at ELITE 2016 that I know how to network with colleagues thus learn how to apply for conferences and seminars online using Google search engine for such programs,” he said.
Modou Sowe of West Coast Region (WCR) said: “I also attended the Youth, Agribusiness, Leadership and Entrepreneurship Summit on Innovation (YALESI) and the ELIT 2016 National Summer Camp respectively. In all these I gained tremendously well.”
