Amat JENG traveled across West Africa and he filed this report
As electricity saga and security threat continue to batter countries around the sub-region; thus making business to move in snail pace, business tycoons and captains of industries have raised concern about the status quo of this country. This situation came as the sub-region has been posited as prone to security peril, as a result of sectarian sadism, arm-robbery and possible uprisings – a melodrama that have gripped the Arab world.
Speaking to our reporter during his two-day stopover in Togo’s capital Lome, Gambian businessmen, who have established large stores in Lome’s market, expressed their concern about the security and power supply system of The Gambia, saying “our government should beef up security in the country and invest in the power sector.”
One of these gurus is Alhagie Kabba, a native of Sabi (URR), who said security should be government’s focused, describing the security apparatus in other countries as bad omen, saying the scenario in the sub-region is terrifying.
Kabba was speaking in version of the cumbersome threat orchestrated by the activities of the Bokom Haram Islamic sect that has imposed fear on Nigeria and its investors, adding that government should leave no stone unturned in the insertion of the possible apparatus to save this country and its people from the scourge of any misdemeanor.
Kabba, who had spent eight years in Lagos, prior to travelling to the United Sates, said: “Security per se is a fundamental outlook for investors in any country.”
He urged the central government not to compromise or downplay with any bustle that will tamper with the peace and tranquility that this country has enjoyed over the centuries.
For him “electricity is a critical economic infrastructure,” which government has a compulsion to look at.
However, in this country’s considerable potential output has been lost due to power cuts in the past few years. If the trend continues, potential losses from power disruption will increase in the future as the economy grows and the relative contributions of the industry and service sectors increase in the economy.
But as the business tycoon observes, power supply must boost as rapidly as demand to circumvent such losses and to ensure sustained growth. “We know development of power infrastructure is capital intensive and thus difficult to finance in capital poor countries like ours, but government should act.”
The Togolese capital been a sub-regional hub for investors and economic hunters, has over the past years witnessed an influx of foreigners, predominantly Gambians. Togo’s largest market where businesses burgeon on daily basis is closer to the seaport and airport; giving investors direct access to the market without much ruckus. The major country dealing with merchants in Lome is China, which serves as a gateway for businesspersons.
But as getting to China is becoming tricky for new entrepreneurs in Lome, due to perceived security, some people are unscrupulously using Gambian passport for easy access to China’s international market.
This situation beckoned the attention of Gambians in Lome, who shared with MarketPlace what they described as “a totally condemn act”.
“We were frustrated when we saw a man arrested with a Gambian passport. More seriously, he does not speak any of the local languages in Gambia. It was later his identity was ascertained, and he was proved a citizen of another English speaking country,” said Alfusainey Touray.
“I think our immigration department should be meticulous about passport issuance, because there are non-Gambians using our identity to cross over borders. We, at our own level, totally condemn it.”
Alfusainey, who established a business in Lome in 2008, said, he is making up his mind seriously to come back and invest in his country. He lamented the social and economic situations of where he is, saying Gambians should really celebrate excellence. “My brother you can see for yourself the demeaning ambience here. In Gambia, we compromise so much the peaceful co-existence we have. Other countries could not get an iota of that compromised-peace.”
Whilst investors in countries like Nigeria are beginning to cry foul the perplexity associated with Goodluck Jonathan’s security machinery, it is high time the Gambia government begins to rationalize tax, beef up security and invest in the power sector in order to grab the attention of these captains of industries.
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