Fifty young Gambians will benefit from Africell’s Project AfriNdimbal, an initiative designed to guide young people towards entrepreneurship through skills and capacity building, as well as vocational training.
Tuesday, September 1 marked the beginning of free vocational training classes for 45 young men and women who, according to Africell Gambia’s CEO, Hussen Diab Ghanem, will hopefully have fewer reasons to join the many young people who risk their lives attempting illegal emigration, commonly known in The Gambia as “the back way”.
“What better way to save lives than to create something to encourage our youth to stay here and contribute, and to have something sustainable, to have livelihoods of their own and not depend on anybody?” asked the CEO in his speech during the project’s official launch ceremony on August 28.
The first phase of the new program will include three months of hard-skills training in Electrical Installation, Arts & Crafts, Tailoring, Makeup and Hairdressing, and Customer Care, alongside training on the benefits of using Afrimoney as an entrepreneurship tool. A further three-month internship experience will be offered to participants who demonstrate the most potential.
As official partners of Project AfriNdimbal, the University of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (USET) and Vicky’s Hairdressing Salon and Skill Center stressed the importance of skills development in promoting self-employment and equipping young people to solve problems within their communities.
“We believe that every Gambian, male or female, has to be innovative. We train you not just to hold a certificate, like many used to do, but you will be able to be hands-on and actually fix problems like the electrical issues so many people are going through during this rainy season,” said USET’s Dean of Student Affairs, James Gomez.
Victoria Judith Tamba, CEO of Vicky’s Hairdressing Salon and Skill Center, added: “Having a skill is very important. Not all of us can go and get a job in an office, so I’m very happy to have a skill center to empower youths and for them to become entrepreneurs someday.”
Originally known as the “Skills, Growth and Success Project”, AfriNdimbal was born from an Africell Employee Competition held in 2025, in which staff were challenged to develop community-focused projects addressing key areas such as education, health, the environment, poverty alleviation, and youth empowerment.
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