By: Dawda Baldeh
Njie Charakh, a prominent Gambian entrepreneur, is preparing to launch a national and international tour to promote products made in The Gambia by mostly local women and girls.
The tour is expected to begin on Monday, October 7th, starting in Brikama in the country’s West Coast Region, and then moving on to other regions over the following two weeks.
The objective is to help promote locally made and well-packaged Gambian products nationally and internationally to enable the exportation of Gambian products to international markets.
The international tour will touch areas in Europe, China, Asia, America, and Canada to name a few to promote Gambian-made products.
Currently, over 25 young female entrepreneurs have their products registered at Njie Charakh “Made In The Gambia” most of whom are graduates from Njie Charakh school of basic business training and entrepreneurial skills.
Plans are underway for the registration of over 2000 entrepreneurs for the 5th batch to be trained within three months in the Greater Banjul Area to boost their entrepreneurial skills in diverse areas to empower their businesses.
The products Njie wants to promote at the national and international level include Moringa Powder, Moringa Tea, Rose Merry Leafs, Hair butter, Cloves powder, Honey, Soap, Shear Butter, Pepe Sauce, Shea butter for general body pain, Glowing soap, Shoes, Herbal teas, Moringa soap, Hair pomade, Local bags, Perfume, Body scrub, among others.
In this edition, we featured some Gambian female entrepreneurs who are in the process of manufacturing different products locally.
Haddy Cham, a resident of Latrikunda Sabiji is a promising young entrepreneur who is the CEO of Tikis Herbal Tea.
“I have seen that there are a lot of untapped natural resources that we can transform into finished products depending on the imported materials. This is why I choose to transform these natural products into tea bags for consumption,” she explained.
Mrs Cham emphasized the importance of consuming local herbs to promote health, saying it was the secret for the older generation who barely depend on modern medicine.
The local herbs Mrs Cham transforms into well-packaged teas include Kinkeliba, Mborr-Mborr, Moringa tea, jambakatang, Wonjo, Ginger and lemongrass.
Meanwhile, Aisha Manneh is also an entrepreneur who is hoping to make strides into a highly competitive industry as she explores her talents in manufacturing herbal products into soaps and other finished products to reduce the dependency on imports of these products to boost Gambian-made products.
“I made herbal kids’ body butter, soap, and black seeds into rose merry among others,” she revealed.
Mrs Manneh stated that using these locally made products promotes one’s health and prevents them from chemical products that could have health effects.
“These herbal products such as rose merry and fenugreek are good for hair growth and health,” she explained.
Amie Njie is also another female entrepreneur who passed through Njie Charakh Training School.
She’s into making shea butter into different body creams that promote one’s health. “The shear butter is originally from Ghana which I made into different products that are good for health,” she noted.
The young female entrepreneurs are making strides in the booming market breaking barriers to exhale in the business sector.
They advocate for the promotion of locally made products in the country to boost the economy and create employment opportunities.
