The chief executive officer of the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Cherno Jallow, has called on ECOWAS and other sub regional bodies to accelerate infrastructural developments in order to unleash the enormous potentials of the sub-region.
Jallow, who was speaking on Saturday at the official opening of the GCCI’s 4th biennial trade fair in Banjul, made the appeal as he spoke about the problems of organizing trade fairs in this part of Africa, which he termed “a major challenge for both organizers and participants.”
As he put it, the problems are such that it is easier and quicker for exhibitors from far flung Taiwan to travel to Gambia than those from nearby Niger. According to him, the Taiwanese took three days to bring their wares to Banjul by air, the same amount of time taken by exhibitors from Niger to travel by road to Banjul.
As already noted, the main challenge for these exhibitors is to travel to the country where the fair is taking place.
Jallow opined that such difficulties make many people from the sub-region not attend trade fairs adding that it is “the most daring who take the risk.
“That is why we at GCCI would like to use this opportunity to appeal to the sub-regional authorities such as ECOWAS to accelerate the infrastructural developments in the community so as to unleash the enormous potentials of the region.”
Jallow said there has been a 15% increase in participation in the fair this year, and that foreign participants include 6 countries from the ECOWAS sub-region, one from Europe and one from South-East Asia.
He also said that organizers have the challenge of inadequate facilities and resources to offer the quality of service that exhibitors should expect especially those coming from the developed world.
Source African Press Agency
