Ms. Tida Gibba, a young female hairdresser who benefitted from the Tekki Fii Mini Grant Scheme, last Monday inaugurated a beauty salon at her home Village in Lamin, West Coast Region (WCR), after receiving an in-kind support of hairdressing items worth of Fifty Thousand Dalasis (50,000.00).
Ms Gibba, who is a member of the Global Youth Innovation Network (GYIN) Gambia Chapter, now operates a fully-equipped hair Salon which, enabled her to provide multiple types of hair styles.
The Tekki Fii Grant- Make it in The Gambia is funded by the European Union (EU) implemented by GIZ, one of the partners in the Tekki Fii Project with numerous materials ranging from Standing Dryer, Two Mirrors, Self-Standing Frame, Weavings, Hair Extension, Hand Dryer, Flat & Curling Irons, two Chairs, a Bucket of Hair Straightening, two Buckets of Styling Gel, two Bottles of 500ML Disinfectant, two Bottles of Hair Shampoo, five Liters of Hair Conditioner, Needles, Sink for Hair Washing and Head Tie Pins.
“The grant has really changed my life because I can now do different hairstyles that I wasn’t able to offer before,” she narrated, while thanking the benefactor- GIZ for turning her dreams into reality.
Narrating further, Ms Gibba noted that she was doing her hairdressing business at her home as she didn’t have the financial capacity to buy all the necessary items and renting a shop.
Her words: “Before I received the mini grant support, I was unable to provide many hairstyles because I did not have enough capital to buy all the hairdressing materials and to rent a shop in order to make my work very easy. With this support, I can now say, I have a full-time business.”
Moreover, Ms Gibba had the opportunity to attend different training programmes organised by GYIN Gambia for rural young entrepreneurs.
These trainings include Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Information Technology (ELIT2019) National Youth Summer Camp, Virtual Training on Proper Records Keeping and Business Taxation as well as nominated to serve as a Youth Speaker at the Virtual World Entrepreneurs Day (WED2020) celebration.
She enthused that these trainings and programmes have exposed her to many opportunities thus changing her life.
Singling out her most unique memory during the ELIT, Ms Gibba narrated that she was opportune to attend a presentation on the Tekki Fii Grants for the first time in her life.
She noted that ELIT2019 had opened an ‘ocean of opportunities’ for her as it helped her to realize her business goals. Commenting, she thanked and praised GYIN Gambia and GIZ for what, she described as ‘opens my eyes on opportunities’.
She called on the women and youths folk to explore the wide range of opportunities available in the country, while urging Gambians to patronized Gambian own businesses.