
On 9 November 2020, IMVF through the European Union funded Tekki-Fii project – Building a Future: Make it in The Gambia, in collaboration with Gambia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has started a six-day training of 30 young people from the North Bank Region (NBR) on business development at the YMCA hall in Kanifing.
The training has two components: Generate Your Business Idea and Start Your Business. And is aimed to provide the participants the ability to develop a good business plan or improve on the already existing business plans, therefore increasing their potential to excel and to employ other young people within their regions.
The training is also aimed at scaling up youth’s ability to qualify for the Tekki Fii in kind grants which are worth up to D50,000 (Mini-Grant) and D250,000 (Agro-Grant).
According to Joana Martins, IMVF’s Project Coordinator, the organization of this training comes after realizing that the young entrepreneurs in the country often find it difficult to produce good business plans and to meet the criteria to access funding, namely the one available from the Tekki Fii grants.
We aim to encourage the young people of this country to take up businesses opportunities in the agriculture sector. These opportunities might present relevant prospects for income generation and shall have the potential to create employment to other youths in the regions.
The Tekki Fii project continues providing support to the youths of The Gambia to develop meaningful livelihoods in the home regions and mitigate the urge to engage in the perilous routes of irregular migration.
During the next month, additional 90 youths shall be coached and trained in business development in the scope of the Tekki Fii project.