Youth, trade roadmap for Gambia’s creative industries launched
Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - A Youth and Trade Roadmap for The Gambia’s Creative Industries to support innovation and improve on the productive capacity of Small Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) was launched here Tuesday.
The roadmap is also meant to strengthen institutional support, increase economic value and market access to foster economic growth, employment creation entrepreneurial ventures and skills development.
The roadmap outlines a plan of action to activate economic opportunities related to skills development, entrepreneurships, market-led value chain development and sector coordination.
Gambian minister of Tourism and Culture Hamat Bah said the launch marked the end of a series of countrywide consultations that started in June 2019.
It also brought together public and private organizations, entrepreneurs, institutions and youth associations to identify youth employment opportunities.
He said his ministry took great pleasure in launching the Creative Industries Roadmap, which is aligned to the country’s development priorities identified in the National Development Plan (NDP) (2018-21).
He said the roadmap for the creative industries had come at a crucial time to strengthen sector development in the country, address major competitiveness constraints and directly empower youth.
“The roadmap identifies priority subsectors such as audiovisuals, news media, functional creations and performing arts with high potential to drive economic growth and employment opportunities for the youth.
Synergies between the tourism sector and new technologies need to be further developed to promote the Gambia’s cultural heritage.
“The aim is to improve the image of the Gambia as a tourism destination and offer unique immersive creative experiences to visitors while sharing our traditions, arts and history. Creative tourism is about discovering the hidden Gambia and diving deep into local life,” Bah said.
The director general of the National Centre for Arts and Culture, Hassum Ceesay, described the roadmap as an added value to the efforts of the government.
Dorothy Tembo, deputy executive director, International Trade Centre, said that The Gambia had made an important part of its plans for growth, job creation and democratic consolidation, adding that the efforts were still and uphill task.
She noted that one key challenge was to ensure economic growth and create jobs, particularly for youth people who make up the vast majority of the population.
“To understand the difficulties of the creative sector in the Gambia, it is essential to assess the competitiveness of the enterprises and capacities of the vocational training centres, especially to identify the mismatch between training curriculum and labour market needs, and what interventions might help,” she said.
-0- PANA MSS/RA 3Dec2019
