{"id":93146,"date":"2026-01-24T07:44:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T07:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/gscc-meccnar-host-forum-on-rural-entrepreneurship-grantees"},"modified":"2026-01-24T08:05:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T08:05:30","slug":"gscc-meccnar-host-forum-on-rural-entrepreneurship-grantees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gscc-meccnar-host-forum-on-rural-entrepreneurship-grantees","title":{"rendered":"GSCC, MECCNAR Host Forum on Rural Entrepreneurship Grantees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Natural Resources (MECCNAR), through the Rural Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resilience Building Project (RICAR), in collaboration with the Gambia Startup Chamber of Commerce (GSCC), hosted a three-day private sector engagement forum on rural entrepreneurship. The event, held at Ocean Bay in Bakau, focused on \u201cLeveraging Private Sector Involvement for Resilient Rural Entrepreneurship Grantees.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

The forum provided a platform for networking, knowledge sharing, and collaboration to enhance the efforts of project beneficiaries in promoting economic growth.<\/p>\n

At the opening, Permanent Secretary of MECCNAR Ebrima Jawara described the gathering as a milestone for the RICAR project, highlighting the government\u2019s commitment to fostering a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable economic future amid escalating climate challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s convergence represents a shift beyond direct support, aiming to catalyze systemic change by creating pathways for self-reliance, economic diversification, and private sector-led resilience. Our young entrepreneurs are central to this transformative agenda,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

GSCC representative Baboucarr Kebbeh noted that the Chamber currently has 256 registered members across the country, who oversee operations at the regional level. He explained that, in partnership with MECCNAR, the RICAR project launched the Resilient Rural Entrepreneurship Award to promote adaptive and diversified livelihood strategies among rural youth.<\/p>\n

He outlined GSCC\u2019s mandate, which includes advocacy, business support services, access to finance, and implementation of projects addressing key startup needs in the Gambia. \u201cWe work closely with government ministries, agencies, and partners to promote trade, industry, and entrepreneurship, and participate in policy and legislative decisions benefiting startups and MSMEs,\u201d Kebbeh said.<\/p>\n

The award programme, he added, incentivizes innovative and climate-resilient business ideas, encouraging youth to create small enterprises that maintain stable income sources even under unfavorable climate conditions.<\/p>\n

RICAR Project Coordinator Aji Oulaye Njie said the project was designed to enhance the adaptive capacity of rural communities, emphasizing that genuine resilience requires both economic and knowledge empowerment.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur journey began by identifying community change agents, primarily young women and youth from CRR and URR, who demonstrated commitment to local resilience. They underwent intensive capacity building and volunteered in delivering essential project services, including social and behavioral change initiatives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Njie explained that the Rural Resilience Entrepreneurship Award was created to recognize and incentivize these volunteers. \u201cThe transition was merit-based, and the change agents completed a rigorous and competitive selection process.\u201d<\/p>\n

She acknowledged the support of MECCNAR in establishing the multi-stakeholder Rural Resilience Award Committee that oversees the initiative.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Natural Resources (MECCNAR), through the Rural Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resilience Building Project (RICAR), in collaboration with the Gambia Startup Chamber of Commerce (GSCC), hosted a three-day private sector engagement forum on rural entrepreneurship. The event, held at Ocean Bay in Bakau, focused on \u201cLeveraging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":93145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-93146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nGSCC, MECCNAR Host Forum on Rural Entrepreneurship Grantees - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Natural Resources (MECCNAR), through the Rural Integrated Climate Ad ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gscc-meccnar-host-forum-on-rural-entrepreneurship-grantees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GSCC, MECCNAR Host Forum on Rural Entrepreneurship Grantees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Natural Resources (MECCNAR), through the Rural Integrated Climate Ad ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gscc-meccnar-host-forum-on-rural-entrepreneurship-grantees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-24T07:44:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-24T08:05:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/sm_1769229237.968688.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gscc-meccnar-host-forum-on-rural-entrepreneurship-grantees#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gscc-meccnar-host-forum-on-rural-entrepreneurship-grantees\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"GSCC, MECCNAR Host Forum on Rural Entrepreneurship Grantees\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-24T07:44:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-24T08:05:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gscc-meccnar-host-forum-on-rural-entrepreneurship-grantees\"},\"wordCount\":424,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gscc-meccnar-host-forum-on-rural-entrepreneurship-grantees#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/sm_1769229237.968688.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gscc-meccnar-host-forum-on-rural-entrepreneurship-grantees#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gscc-meccnar-host-forum-on-rural-entrepreneurship-grantees\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gscc-meccnar-host-forum-on-rural-entrepreneurship-grantees\",\"name\":\"GSCC, MECCNAR Host Forum on Rural Entrepreneurship Grantees - 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