Banjul, 3rd March 2025: The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, has described The Gambia’s tourism and creative industries as one of the most promising sectors, while referring the recently launched nine million and nine hundred thousand Euros (EUR 9, 900, 000), European Union Youth Empowerment Project on Tourism and Creative Industries
She referred to the launch as the beginning of landmark intervention in one of the most promising sectors of the economy. “Both sectors tend to feed off each other, have predominant youthful participation, and are also heavily oriented towards self-employment and economic autonomy,” she added.
According to her, the creative industries and tourism sectors are at the centre of the priorities of the Government of His Excellency Adama Barrow’s YIRIWA development plan 2023-2027.
The PS took the opportunity to laud the supportive posture that the ITC colleagues have provided throughout the year. “This project will strengthen and add value to existing interventions of The Gambia Government to build capacities and evolve jobs in tourism and creative arts, including the collection of copyright royalties by our artists and creative actors from users,” she further explained.
The EU Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) - Tourism and Creative Industries is a collaborative initiative of the Government of The Gambia, the European Union (EU), and the International Trade Centre (ITC).
The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the inclusiveness and sustainability of The Gambia’s tourism sector and creative industries.
The project will be implemented over five years with the aim to improve the business environment and institutional ecosystem for the tourism sector and creative industries, improve investment and market access as well as increase the competitiveness of The Gambia’s tourism sector.
By Lamin Njie
