Africa-Press – Gambia. Muhammed Jah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of QGroup, has responded to questions at the Local Government Commission of Inquiry about his company’s contract with the Kanifing Municipal Council for the purchase of waste management trucks.
Mr. Jah appeared before the Commission on Wednesday. When asked by the Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez why, didn’t Espace Motors reject the proposal by KMC as it was done by Agib Bank because the council could not guarantee default in payments of the loan when purchased of trucks are made by the company.
The QGroup CEO responded that Espace Motors wanted to be part of the waste management solution in the country, noting it’s a vehicle company and can get back the vehicles from KMC if the proposal doesn’t work as agreed.
“So all these factors were put in place. We knew that we could sell it to another client as well. We don’t have any problem with that,” he explained to the Commission.
“Mr Jah, can you kindly tell the commission the implication of the joint venture partnership agreement between QuantumNet Company and Gambia Islamic Bank?” Asked Chairperson, Jainaba Bah.
Mr. Jah explained that the agreement was between Espace Motors, QuantumNet, and Agib Bank for partnership financing. He added, “basically, in Islamic banking, you can do partnerships by jointly funding a project or one of the entities funding it exclusively. That’s where profit sharing is considered. So, in this case, a ratio of 60-40 was agreed. Agib would always put more money than QuantumNet. And then, in the end, the profitability will be shared.”
Jah further clarified that when they have projects like the one KMC has proposed to them, they often go to Agib Bank to seek a partnership.
“In the event that KMC was not able to pay and Agib wanted its money back, so was it going to fall back on the assets of QuantumNet and Espace?” Chairperson Jainaba Bah further questioned.
Mr. Jah affirmed, “Yes, it was going to fall back through the title deeds being given to Agib as a guarantee.”
The Local Government Commission ordered him to produce the title deeds in this contractual agreement.
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