HE Alieu K. Jammeh, the Gambia’s Ambassador to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Ivory Coast, has said that the main priorities of the bilateral relations between The Gambia and Liberia will be centered on agriculture, trade, tourism, and youth empowerment.
Ambassador Jammeh who was in Monrovia last week and presented his Letters of Credence to President George Weah, made this remark during a telephone interview with LamToro News from his official base in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
He described his official meeting with President Weah during which he presented his Letters of Credence, as an important event that will mark his formal beginning to work with the countries to which he is designated as Ambassador.
Commenting on the areas of cooperation such as agriculture, Ambassador Jammeh disclosed that Liberia has a lot of potential in the agric sector, adding that they have a huge forest cover with a lot of rain and a high level of soil fertility.
Liberia, he stated, has beautiful vegetation and forms part of the Green Belt in West Africa.
“Groundnut is the main cash crop of the Gambia but because of erratic rain pattern and continuous erosion of its soil fertility, we often face challenges in harvesting good produce. Therefore, Liberia which has abundant rains and rich soils, can be a good option where groundnut production can be introduced and the produce be exported to the Gambia for consumption,“ he remarked.
On rice production, forestry, and tourism, Ambassador Jammeh said, The Gambia shall share expertise with Liberia to gain mutual benefit as well as find solutions to the major problems in these sectors.
“Liberia can export timber to The Gambia to enhance the local market. Trading of some products and businesses like palm oil, basalt, etc could be promoted using the port of Banjul,“ he noted.
According to him, these areas of cooperation could help empower the youths and create jobs as well.
Ambassador Jammeh finally thanked the president of the Republic of The Gambia Adama Barrow for giving him the opportunity to continue to serve his country.
Readers would recall that Mr. Jammeh was first appointed Ambassador in 2018 to Guinea Bissau and was overseeing Guinea Conakry and Cape Verde. He was based in Bissau for nearly two years until the end of November 2020 when he was redeployed to Sierra Leone, where he will be overseeing Liberia and Ivory Coast.
In March 2021, Ambassador Jammeh presented his Letters of Credence to President Mada Bio of Sierra Leone and now he has also presented his Credentials to the Liberian leader George Weah.
Mr. Jammmeh is expected to present his Letters of Credence to the president of Ivory Coast sometime later this year.