Welcome To GSNEF

In Loving Memory

Dr. Karamo NM Sonko

Founder & Former Chairman of The Gambia Special Needs Entrepreneurial Fund (GSNEF)· 1961 – 2026

With profound sadness, GSNEF mourns the passing of our beloved founder and Chairman, Dr. Karamo NM Sonko. Born in Sintet, The Gambia, he was a distinguished economist and social scientist, educated at the University of Cambridge and the University of Denver, whose work spanned four continents, including service with the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. He was Chairman of TAF Africa Global, founder and CEO of Jula Consultancy, a strategic adviser to Perseus Mining, and a leading voice for ethical, sustainable development across the continent.

In 2018, he founded The Gambia Disability Impact Trust Fund (GDITF), now known as GSNEF, and personally led and helped to fund its work until 2026. GSNEF is widely regarded as a pioneering initiative in The Gambia (and Africa), combining entrepreneurship training, skills development, interest-free microcredit, and a comprehensive ESG framework to empower persons with disabilities. Guided by faith and compassion, he devoted his life and means to lifting up the poor and the needy: clean water, education, health, agriculture, entrepreneurship, economic empowerment and care for the most vulnerable across Africa and beyond.

He will be remembered for his brilliance, his generosity, and above all his humanity. Though he is no longer with us, his kindness and the countless lives he touched will remain with us always. May he rest in eternal peace.

About GSNEF

The Gambian Special Needs Entrepreneurial Fund (GSNEF), was established in 2020 thanks to generous funding through a grant from the Arab Bank for the Economic Development of Africa (BADEA) and support from Heeno International. It is a project conceived, initiated, and co-funded by Heeno International Foundation for the Gambia Federation of the Disabled (GFD). The primary objective of the project is to set up a Fund to empower persons with disabilities (or People with Special Needs) in The Gambia with entrepreneurial skills and provide them with seed capital to undertake viable and sustainable trades (businesses) in order to reduce poverty and dependency amongst the disabled or persons/people with special needs and improve their participation in economic activities.

Where is The Gambia?

According to Wikipedia: The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for the western part, which is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean.

GSNEF Description and ESG impact data

At GSNEF, our mission is to enable persons with disabilities to gain business skills, professional skills and financial support. This pivotal training and educational support will enable them to stop begging in the streets and other forms of economic dependence.

As of August 2023, our fund had trained over 400 persons with disabilities in entrepreneurial skills, we have disbursed about 20 microcredit loans and trained 25 persons in tailoring. 74% of our beneficiaries are women. Uniquely, we have aligned our operations with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. Uniquely, we have created an ESG framework which was designed by our Sustainability Advisor Ms Mariama Sonko, which is one of the few funds by any standards with a clearly structured ESG reporting framework.

As per our ESG framework, our social and environmental impact also include the use of second-hand furniture, rent and energy-consumption savings, several media and educational programs advocating for the rights of the disabled in association with other organisations led by the deputy Chairman of the Steering Committee.

Our Team

About our Board & Team

The GSNEF core team comprise only 6 members (excluding the Chairman), including an advisory board and board assistants, which comprise the Steering Committee. The four board members come equally from GFD and Heeno. Both representatives of GFD are people with special needs. The Steering Committee members are a fully committed and hardworking team, who does all the work of full-time staff, without demanding full-time salaries. They are given only allowances to cover costs and to motivate them. Therefore, they have helped the project to save a significant amount of money this way, and the fact they did not require offices to be rented for them in the beginning. Presently, we are using the GFD office.

Dr Karamo NM Sonko

Former Chairman (2018-2026)

Mariama Sonko

CHAIRMAN

Magistrate Mohamed Krubally

Deputy Chair

Members of the Steering Committee

Mohamed Krubally

First Class Magistrate at Banjul Magistrate Court of the Gambia and President of the Gambia Federation of the Disabled (GFD)

Lamin Sanneh

Operations Manager

⁠Adama sarr

Treasurer of GFD

Seedy Conteh

Ph.D candidate in Finance at the University of Durham, UK

Kulay Sanneh

Accountant

Mariama Daffeh

Economist, Admin Officer at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs

Heeno International

HI is a privately funded Gambian Non-Governmental and Non-Profit Foundation registered in January 2011, which provides small grants that can make big differences in people’s lives.

The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA)

The GSNEF is grateful to BADEA for their support. Our cooperation with BADEA started during the days of the former President and CEO, His Excellency Dr. Sidi Ould Tah (now President of the African Development Bank (AfDB)), and his team. We are equally grateful to the bank for continuing their support under the leadership of its new President, His Excellency Abdullah Khalil Al Musibeeh and his team. The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) is the 2nd strongest-rated Multilateral Development Bank in Africa.

First Training (Pilot)

The first batch of participants, that benefited from the training, comprised twenty participants, all selected from the urban area of the Gambia for the pilot training classes. The area includes Banjul, Kanifing Municipal Council and West Coast Region of The Gambia. The training was conducted at the Gambia Technical Management Institute (GTMI) hall in Kanifing from the 5th to 7th of July 2021. The twenty participants that attended the pilot phase included sixteen (16) females and four (4) males the evidence on whom can be seen the pictures below:

Second Training

After successful conduct of the pilot training in the urban area for the twenty beneficiaries, the second batch of training was done for rural beneficiaries. The training was conducted at Trans-Gambia Lodge in the Lower River Region of The Gambia. This other training for persons with disabilities was residential taking into light that the beneficiaries come from different distanced areas and the need to provide accommodation best suited to them. From the 12th to 15thof October 2021, a total of forty (40) beneficiaries were trained in this batch, comprising ten (10) participants from each of the remaining regions of the country outside the urban area, including North Bank Region, Lower River Region, Central
River Region and Upper River Region respectively. From the forty participants, 28 were females and 12 were male the evidence on whom can also be seen in the pictures below pictures:

Third Training

Building on the successes in the first and second trainings held, the third training was scale up to include hundred (100) participants from the urban area including Banjul, Kanifing Municipal Council, and West Coast region. Just like the pilot training referred above, the third batch training was also held at the GTMI hall in Kanifing. The hundred participants included seventy-five (75) females and twenty-five (25) males, the illustration of which can be found in the following picture:

Fourth Training

So far, the fourth training is the final training conducted on business and financial management for beneficiaries. This training was done for the rural participants at Mansakonko from 28th March 2022 for 100 beneficiaries. The 100 participants came from the four provincial regions including North Bank Region, Lower River Region, Central River Region and Upper River Region respectively. Each of the regions was represented by 25 participants. The 100 included again more females – 60 percent female and 40 percent male. As always, females are dominant in our training. The illustration of the fourth
training can be seen hereunder:

SUMMARY OF MILESTONES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING – OPERATION “WE WANT TO BE TRADERS AND NOT BEGGARS”

TAILORING TRAINING – OPERATION “ENABLING THE DISABLED THROUGH SKILLS”

In addition to bringing the needs of people with special needs to the attention of the highest levels of authority in the Gambian government (including the National Assembly) and boosting their pride across the Gambia and internationally, we are pleased to be able to declare the following statistics and facts about the operations of GSNEF:

Disbursements, Beneficiaries and Management of GSNEF

Outreach & Advocacy

The GSNEF is very actively engaged in outreach activities, nationally and internationally. These are directly undertaken or led by the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Sustainability Adviser. By their very nature, many of our activities promote inclusion and sustainability directly. Please refer to the “About Us” page for recent updates on GSNEF.

Are you interested in supporting GSNEF? For any inquiries or interest to support us, please email us at:

info@julaconsultancy.com