By Harry Bah
Thirty-one-year-old Buba Saidykan, a native of Farato Bojang Kunda, is one of the few young people making names by training youngsters on painting and recycling while creating job opportunities for some.
Buba decided to venture into skilled entrepreneurship upon returning from his unsuccessful journey to Europe. Powered by his talent in painting and wallpaper installation, the innovative young man recycles old tires, bottles, and cans into modern tables, stools, flower verses, and sofas.
Buba is among the many enterprising young Gambians who had lost confidence in making it in The Gambia because of the perceived harsh economic conditions.
A few years ago, he decided to ply the illegal route to Europe through the Sahara Desert, known to many as the “back way”. After many attempts, Buba couldn’t successfully make it to Europe because of the precarious nature of the route and limited financial support to fund his journey. He decided to return home with the help of the International Organisation for Migration to start a fresh life for survival through entrepreneurship.
He had the opportunity to undergo several skills training before the idea of establishing his own career paths.
“I want to give skills to the youths and to also help mitigate the issue of deforestation because people are cutting timbers to make chairs, which has a negative impact on our environment. Also, I have a strong belief that teaching youth these skills will minimise the back way syndrome in the country.”
At his workplace, Buba has employed at least three young people and is currently training other youths on painting, decorations and wall paper installation, who all are also serving as his apprentices. He has the conviction that these people will make the best use of the skills they learn and contribute to the development of society.
However, the enthusiastic skilled worker bemoaned that the business is not growing as fast as before because of their inability to have all the materials they needed and having to buy most of their materials from other shops.
Despite having their workshop, they still lack materials like paint, sewing machines, jig sew, staple gun, and electric drills to enhance easy work for recycling. He further explained that it is difficult to get some of these materials from the forest as well because of the regulations.
Financial hardships and young people’s ineptitude to hold on to some of these kinds of jobs also influenced the growth of his mini-company. He sounded off that despite the achievements, he is afraid they won’t be able to sustain the business and hold on to the employees he has at his disposal. He, therefore, calls for the assistance from potential donors.
In his message to the young people, he called on them not to give up on life in The Gambia and to try to be more innovative and job be creators.
He further advised that the venture into skill works rather than online businesses because they can employ more people.
For the young entrepreneurs Buba advised that they train and employ more youths to minimise the pressure on the government to provide employment for the ever-increasing population.
