The CEO of rlg Communications Mr. Roland Agambire has commended the people of The Gambia for embracing the rlg model of employment creation for the youth of Africa. He said for the youth of the continent to take their rightful place in social and economic development, there is the need for a robust capacity development and sustainable job creation model to be made available to them. Mr. Agambire was speaking at the graduation ceremony of the first group of students who have benefitted from rlg’s training programme in Banjul, The Gambia. In a thought-provoking and challenging speech, the rlg CEO praised the Government of Gambia for creating an enabling environment for a Ghanaian company like rlg to invest in the youth of a sister West African State. “In partnership with Unique Solutions, a local Gambian ICT company, rlg is establishing its offices and business operations in this country with an initial investment capital of 2 million US Dollars”, Mr Agambire revealed to the over 500 delegates made up of a representative of President Yahya Jammeh, five Cabinet Ministers, UNDP representatives, Diplomatic Corp members among others. He admonished the Government and people of The Gambia to keep the fire burning by working in tandem with rlg and Unique Solutions to expand the business into the assemblage of products in Banjul. “It is our firm hope that the people of The Gambia will rise up and take ownership of the rlg brand. I urge you to buy rlg shares when we float them on the stock market. I call on you to share in rlg’s strong vision of growing technology in West Africa to export to the rest of the world”, Mr Agambire added. In a keynote address Gambia’s Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment, Honorable Abdou Kolley expressed joy over the fact that rlg has identified Gambia as one of the countries that can benefit from its unique youth development programme. “This programme could not have come at a better time when youth unemployment is skyrocketing in our country. Gambia is happy to have embarked on this exciting path in national efforts to empower young people with skills and business acumen to facilitate their personal and professional development”, the Minister remarked. Honorable Kolley continued by expressing satisfaction at the rate at which the rlg training programme has generated interest among the youth who are trooping in their numbers to register for the next round of training. “Indeed we are thrilled, yet encouraged by the number of applications received from over 400 young people seeking placement for the ICT training programme”, he said. The Trade and Industry Minister also reaffirmed the resolve of the President and Government of Gambia to create an encouraging environment as well as effective and progressive frameworks to help young people succeed in their entrepreneurial endeavours. Welcoming the participants the CEO of Unique Solutions, rlg’s local partner, Mr. Papa Yusupha Njie outlined the key challenges that both rlg and Unique Solutions have gone through to ensure the realization of the vision. He stated strongly that the first graduation is only the beginning of great things to emerge from the partnership between the two companies. He challenged the youth to stay innovative, focused and determined to see their dreams come true. Present at the ceremony were the Gambian Ministers of Finance, Communications, Youth and Sports, Officials from Gamjobs and Corporate Gambia. In all 71 candidates graduated and they were presented with certificates and a set of tools to set up their own ICT hardware repair shops.