GiEPA Continues Engagement with Exporting Enterprises

By Betty Gomez

Day two of the data collection exercise by the GiEPA department of Export Promotion and Facilitation continued on Tuesday with visits to major exporters in Brikama and Banjulinding. According to the Manager for Export Promotion and Facilitation - Mariam Bittaye, the visits are meant to institute a baseline for the development of real time data generation geared towards improving export development and facilitation across the Gambia. Established in 1994, premium Commodities Company Gambia Limited in Brikama was the first enterprise to be visited. The agro-processing company is now trying to diversify its export potentials by looking into possibilities of processing cashew products into Cashew Oil and Juice. The enterprise at its best produces 15 thousand metric tons of export products to major foreign markets including USA, Sweden, Netherlands, UK, France, and other European Countries. The GiEPA export promotion team also visited the National Women Farmers Association (NaWFA) in Banjulinding which was founded in 1994. With over 30 thousand women farmers across the country under its belt, NaWFA annually exports over 300 tons of sesame seeds, oil and other cereals to Holland and other European destinations. The final visit of the six-man team for the day was at Radville Farms in Brikama. Established in 1986, the traditional horticulture driven company was first located in Nemakuku in Kombo North producing, processing and exporting fresh mangos to major European destinations including prominent supermarkets such as Waitrose, Salisbury, Aldi and Asda in the UK. The company also has an export capacity of 2.5 million tons of fresh mangoes and vegetables annually. This latest visit by the export department of GiEPA is part of the agency’s 2021-2025 National Export Strategy (NES) aiming to conduct an export survey on the, challenges, viability and real data collection of exports in The Gambia.