(JollofNews) – For some of us who did not have the opportunity to attend the Gala Dinner of the GCCI held at the Coco Ocean on 12 May 2017, we did miss out on the spicy speech delivered by Mr. Muhammed Jah, the no-nonsense Chief Guest of Honor for the occasion.
That speech gave an honest assessment of the real difficulties confounding Gambian-owned businesses and the many so-called foreign investors who are swarming our country make millions and then leaving without any trace. Mr. Jah described these investors as “briefcase agents” who are responsible for the colossal amount of repatriated profits in the private sector with the attendant consequences for our economy. This could explain why the dalasi is still artificially high despite some remedial measures undertaken by the Central Bank of the Gambia (CBG). During the political impasse, one such foreign-owned business was transferring in excess of D80 million every week out of the country.
According to Mr. Jah, the empowerment of local businesses to build a strong private sector should be the cornerstone for any meaningful transformation of our economy. I couldn’t agree more with him. I would hasten to add that if local entrepreneurs start thinking “Gambia First”, many local businesses build with local talents, resources including local finances could be able to thrive globally and transform the economy positively. Some of these foreign-owned businesses are known for repatriating millions of foreign currencies every month to their owners abroad.
Barring any semblance of xenophobic prejudices, I commend Mr. Jah for his frankness in explicitly addressing one of the biggest hurdles stifling businesses in this country; a terrible legacy inherited from the previous Government of Yaya Jammeh. The so called ‘briefcase investors’ repatriating 90 percent of their profits out of the country have been mostly doing so in cohort with the highest authority in the land who provided them with the space and opportunity to rob Gambians of their own resources.
Therefore, this new government cannot be blame for all the wrongs perpetrated in the past by a greedy kleptocrat who abrogated power to himself and thought that, apart from the air we breathe, everything belongs to him. He puts his business interests first above national interest. He was into all sorts of businesses forcing many local businesses into extinction. So many private business owners had to relocate to our neighboring countries in the region to survive.
The Q-Group boss underscored the dominance of everything foreign in our lives. For too long our economy has been mortgaged to a ‘special category ‘of foreigners, many of them friends or business partners of the ex-president making many Gambians to become foreigners in our own land. As indicated in his address, he went on to say, “we need foreign artists to entertain us, we need foreign religious leaders to guide us, and we only watch foreign sports to entertain ourselves. Our kids only know foreign players in foreign football teams when they cannot name a local home-based player.” There should be laws to make sure that local jobs in hotels, GSM operators, agro-businesses, agriculture and fisheries which can be filled by Gambians to be given to Gambians.
It is also fair to add that not all businesses owned by foreigners are involved in these exploitative acts. A good number of them have been and are continuing to contribute enormously in programs and products that benefit Gambians. Some foreign businesses are employing a good number of Gambians, some have sponsored many to enhance their capacities and others have good programs that supported the local communities they are serving. I can even attest to one good example of a hospital being fully sponsored by a consortium of Indian investors/businesses in the country where medical consultation are heavily subsidized and medicines giving free of charge to the people. These are some of the good gestures of giving back to society.
The 45-minute long speech contained some hard facts and figures, but it could have been a mouthwatering spicy farewell dinner for Yaya Jammeh who crippled the private sector and forced many local businesses to die or relocate. Nonetheless, it is a wakeup call for the new Barrow government to address the many challenges confronting businesses within the country and increase local private investment and ownership.
In pursuit of truth and a better Gambia.
By MBO Gaye
Excellent analysis; This is why I suggested Government should take a lead from Gambia’s successful business people for experience and direction.
Gambian businessmen are also GUILTY of repatriating funds abroad. Absolutely. They hide millions in Panama for example, buy homes in London, Atlanta, etc. Send their children to expensive USA/UK schools. And IMPORT expensive cars that consumed foreign exchange. Remember the half-a-dozen Mercedes top of the range vehicles Muhammed Jah gave to Yahya Jammeh as “presents”?? Those Mercs must have cost £100,000 each. And, do we buy our furniture locally? I have a tape-recording of Amadou Samba telling me his sister is in Saudi Arabia shopping for furniture! What about our own carpenters??
Sorry MBO Gaye, the speech is nonsense!
Well, I believe the speech was trying to address “MADE IN GAMBIA. ” But we all know that Businessmen have only permanent interest “
Which beggars the question>>> Why the need to import furniture from Saudi or Iran { which I saw a lot of } Answer >>> Gambian carpenters would rather spend 4 hours making a wooden giraffe to sell to tourists for 50 pence.
There’s absolutely no reason why Gambia could not manufacture Kitchen’s Bathroom’s Window’s Door’s and Furniture etc.
Just need the training and the tools and the business premises and the design>>>and the support from the Banks at business rates and electricity. If Gambian business people are buying property abroad>> that only tells you how much money can be made in The Gambia if you are a risk taker with an idea. I think” Made in Gambia” is a very good slogan for the Barrow Government.
But Mike, made in The Gambia, has the same fundamentals as ‘eat what you grow, grow what you eat” but some people called it a empty slogan, I suppose those people that called the slogan empty, wanted Yahya at the time of running the Gambia to stop, and come and till their soil, sow seeds, watering, reaping, selling, then bring the proceeds/profits to them, then it would be a full slogan?
Grow what you eat and eat what you grow was an excellent policy. The problem was there were no lands to the people. All the lands were owned by Jammeh.
All lands? If that is true then that’s sad, but I pass through The Gambia quite often between Tanji and Kartong(which is very beautiful) and I see private land for sale, left right and centre, and the lands are not on the coastal road only, Gunjur is selling some big chunks also like 1000m X 1000m. Land prices are turning up in The Gambia though. But if want your saying is true, Yahya should have come better than that.
Well it beggars the question what motive Mr. Jah is promoting. That he as a Gambian be advantaged in a future tendering process? Is he himself part of any indigenous business fraternity that can act collectively as a pressure group, in this case apart from Gambia chamber of commerce? Would aspiring business men and women subscribe to his “light populism”, knowing very well that the “big” bosses are, despite being Gambian, inaccessible to the common man?
My take on capital flight is to tax businesses in the country effectively. Beside that anything they do with their money is their pint! Also important is ensure legal stability and political continuity in the country. Factors that partly influence businesses and investors whether to keep capital in a given country or not.
I am gonna tell you another FACT Kinteh: Luntangos as employers treat and pay Gambian workers far far better than Gambian bossess do. That is a FACT – deal with it!
Luntango, am not in the position to corroborate this “FACT” but I am definitely not going to subscribe to the supposedly Jah’s narrative. I think the govt must take her oversight role seriously and ensure that the business environment is lucrative to every participants regardless of where they come from. This doesn’t mean that govt should leave the private sector on it’s own. The govt have many tools at her disposal to stimulate economic activity and thereby encourage redistribution of wealth. One example of bringing a healthy competition in the private sector, is by rewarding firms that pay tax, treat employees fairly and take their social responsibility seriously etc. All these incentives and corporate responsibilities are achievable, without resorting distinctive treatment of businesses – based solely on where the CEO or investor come from.
Dormu Rewwum Gambia, Alex,
Furniture might be the last thing produced/manufactured to boost employment and generate income. What about the millions of tons of onions, potatoes now produced within the length and breath of our country that will face a real demand/supply challenge at the consumer markets with imports from Senegal and other European countries? We are almost self sufficient in the production of these vegetables taking into account the huge amounts of production in the Kombos, URR and Baddibus. Who were the inept Barrow administration appeasing with lifting the ban on imported vegetables, without specifying quotas to cater for our indigenous produce? I believe the kickback bribery money from the all-powerful Lebanese/Syrian importers.
Million of tons of onions and potatoes across the length and breadth of the country!!!
-When was that?
-Where was that?
Did Gambia ever produced groundnuts to the tune of millions..millions of tons?
Imagine you Babu Soli, labelling others “liars”
If there is a liar in these forums, then you are the sick headed liar.
Please try and understand the metric system.
Gambia Major Export Products and Countries 2014 -2015
http://businessingambia.com/gambia-major-export-products-countries/
All the phantom barriers you mention are the fundamentals that risk takers relish;
Have a GO Boy’s>>> you might just make it >>>I did. I was as poor as a church mouse. Poor is ok>>> rich is much better/ and stop knocking those who took the first risks and made it; Listen to what they have to say.
As per author, MBO Gaye:
“Barring any semblance of xenophobic prejudices, I commend Mr. Jah for his frankness in explicitly addressing one of the biggest hurdles stifling businesses in this country; a terrible legacy inherited from the previous Government of Yaya Jammeh. The so called ‘briefcase investors’ repatriating 90 percent of their profits out of the country have been mostly doing so in cohort with the highest authority in the land who provided them with the space and opportunity to rob Gambians of their own resources.
Therefore, this new government cannot be blame for all the wrongs perpetrated in the past by a greedy kleptocrat who abrogated power to himself and thought that, apart from the air we breathe, everything belongs to him. He puts his business interests first above national interest. He was into all sorts of businesses forcing many local businesses into extinction. So many private business owners had to relocate to our neighboring countries in the region to survive”.
Folks, I urge you all to take time to analyze the author’s comment for the object of further discussion.
If the new government will not listen to the folks like Muhammed Jah, Mustafa Njai and others, we may be headed for uncertainty!
Even the Jammeh Government realised they would not get any foreign investment if the foreign owners of Hotels and such had any restriction on returning investment profits to the country of investment origin.
My Honorary citizenship of Gunjur allows me to buy land { Thankyou for the notice Grim Reaper “Land for sale”} and to drive at over 30 MPH without prosecution.
May bring my Maserati>>> The best business’s are those with low investment capital and high profit margins. This allows a business to grow whilst being constrained by limited investment capital….High profit margins allied to increasing cash flow builds a business rapidly and requires little or no assistance from the Banks in the form of overdraft facility or long /medium term loans.
I was pissed of with the bumsters as I walked from my hotel..one day and asked them to follow me to The Albert Markets. I bought them two buckets two sponges and some fairy liquid….and said no go and clean some cars and windows.
Next day we met and I asked them well how much did you make ?
They said they sold the buckets and sponges and fairy liquid and could I do the same again ?
As the Mandinka say>> “you can take the bumster to the well, but you can’t make him drink”.
“Even the Jammeh Government realised they would not get any foreign investment if the foreign owners of Hotels and such had any restriction on returning investment profits to the country of investment origin.” Yahya is no fool, you don’t slay the goose that laying the golden eggs!
That’s the dependency theory. Mana always come from heaven.
Back in 1998/99, I Pa Njie Girigara facilitated Mr. Muhamed Jah have access to the first USAID Africa Internet initiative project in Abuja Nigeria. I was selected to take up the project but because the meeting date fell on Tobaski day, I declined and proposed Muhamed Jah hence his first ISP (Internet Service Provider) set up in the Gambia. The main servers, routers and modems were a grant from USAID.
I went further to help Muhamed Jah and provided him with inverters, solar panels, batteries and air conditioners to keep constant power supply for his ISP equipment on a loan that he paid. I was then the pioneer in the private sector to help open the telecommunication industry to private sector participation. The Gamtel executives can bear me witness on this assertion.
In 1998, I set up the first and only scratch cards production factory and calling card service in the Gambia. I invested over two hundred thousand US dollars in setting up the plant and eventually increased the investments on production capacity to well over five hundred thousand US dollars.
When Africell was in its infancy period, we happily produced their scratch orders on credit for two years. As soon as they grew stronger they shifted their card orders to foreign companies abandoning us. That is what you call real economic patriotism among foreign Lebanese companies at the detriment of an indigenous Gambian company.
Gamcel also came to us on an emergency situation when they ran out of stock in 2001 and we did our best to serve them. We also won two contracts in an open tender from Gamcel and serve them well until 2009.
When Qcell came into existence, I was so happy given the relationship I had with Muhamed Jah. I then went to see Muhamed Jah for patronizing us with their scratch cards needs. As I write this piece not a single scratch card order was given to us by Muhamed Jah. I therefore ask myself what economic patriotism is Muhamed Jah talking about.
By 2010, after waiting for two years without business from the telecommunication operators in the Gambia, I had to close the scratch card production facility and closed the company that had employed 32 staff members. What a waste of a million dollar investment? I then left the Gambia for other countries in West Africa just as Mustapha Njie of Taf Construction did and thank GOD we are surviving out of our homeland.
Today after 7 years of closure of the factory, all the equipment and machineries of the card production facilities are aging and rotting in my warehouse in Banjul, thanks to companies like Qcell, Africell and Comium who refused to patronize an indigenous Gambian business who, hitherto helped the private sector enter the telecommunication industry in the Gambia.
I would have never come in the open to reveal and shed light on our story in promoting industrialization in the Gambia if Mr. Jah did not evoke economic patriotism in his famous speech at the GCCI 2017 Dinner award.
Personally I do not need anything from Mr. Jah; He knows it, he is not richer than me but for him preaching economic patriotism cannot go unchallenged. Just as I did not need Dictator Yaya Jammeh to survive in business, we do however need to educate Gambians and specially the new government and put the records straight on who is who in the business community in the Gambia.
Let us stop the greediness in the business community, let us encourage and practice “live and let live” within the Gambian economy. Such is the true meaning of economic patriotism and economic nationalism. Wanting to grab all sorts of business activities in the Gambia for one’s self is not a good sign of economic patriotism. That type of capitalism is even un-Islamic.
We should encourage small businesses to grow up instead of competing them or putting them out of businesses as done in the past by Dictator Yaya Jammeh.
Jammeh the president cum businessman who preferred to work with foreign partners at the detriment of Gambian business people should be a thing of the past.
Can Mr. Jah and other former Jammeh business enablers boast of contributing over five millions dalasi in the struggle to remove Jammeh from power? I did with pride. The freedom of Gambians is worth paying the price.
Today most of these former business enablers of Yaya Jammeh who turned their back on the struggle can now run knocking on President Barrow’s doors pretending to be nationalists and patriots. What a small world? The race for wealth accumulation by any means necessary will be useless when ready to go to the final resting place. That day only good deeds will count in the eyes of GOD.
Well, to Mr. Jah and others, I am sorry if you feel offended by this article.
Preach what you believe in for no one can fool GOD.
Written by Pa Njie Girigara.
Like I said:
Muhammed Jah: “Foreigners take our money out!”
Amadou Samba: “We Gambians don’t!” (Courtesy of Panama Papers!).
One more FACT: Gambian workers were building Kotu Senior School Library for which I (a greedy Luntango Mr. Jah!) had even put aside an urgent medical operation to raise funds.
The Gambian Hotel “tycoon” surveying the Library building works with me asked: “How much are you paying your bricklayers?”.
I answered “D150 a day”.
Thundered the “tycoon”: “You are the people causing all the problems for us! Now my 60-dalasis-a-day workers will demand 150!”
Two years later Luntango became MD of Daily Observer and shoeked “tycoon” KARAFI with a front page SCANDAL – Karafi was paying Gambian workers 60 dalasi a day!
So, MBO Gaye, Jah’s speech remains – BS!
By the way MBO Gaye, would you know if Amadou Samba has compensated the families of the six Gambian workers who died when Samba’s building collapsed on Kairaba Avenue? I, a Luntango, would not only have compensated them but I would also have adopted their children and educated them. That is another FACT!
I only added flavor to the speech. Did I agree with everything he said? Absolutely not. They say there are many ways to kill a cat. At least the message is out and I appreciate the reactions.
Business people are certainly NOT !!! angels with feathered wings. They buy at the keenest prices and sell at the highest returns; In between they create employment and taxation for the benefit of all and support through commerce other businesses in their supply. Neither are they guided by fostering other businesses, whether local or international. If a business becomes uncompetitive, it suffers. When you’re constantly competing against, overheads, wage demands and rising material costs, the guiding hand of the Company, must respond, modify and change within the fast flowing ebb tide of competition>>> Lest all will suffer>>> The employees, the suppliers, and negative taxation to the exchequer. In short businesses face many daily challenges, that must be faced with resolute business skills, without favour or face a declining cash flow, higher supply costs and lack of competitiveness.
The end result>>> is misery for all.
If anyone thinks they are owed a living>> think again. It’s the survival of the fittest.
Those who made it should be admired. Those who never tried should just shut up.
Hey Bwana Dida!
Pa Njai Girigara Yeh Tabaa Bong Neh Day!!
But what do we know. One never ceases to learn!!
Coming from the Pa Njai Girigara that I knew in the nineties, this is no small talk!!
Here’s a gentleman of substance.