In 2021 Tehuti Investment Club purchased land in Gambia as part of the first phase of its food processing and food production cooperative. The Club has bought several plots of land to set up shops, and retail outlets to include a restaurant and other services to meet the needs of the wider community, visitors, and other businesses.
The purchase of land is the result of over 5 years of investigation and research in various African countries, which include Kenya, Ghana and Gambia. The decision to invest in Gambia is based to a significant degree on the good social relationships which have been built with many Gambians over the years, including funding projects such as the Humanity Concern Foundation and assisting in the various activities of the Manduar Development Hub led by the highly-regarded Professor Momodou Sallah.
If you want to know more about our food cooperative or to join it, please visit our contact page. If you want to want to know more about cooperatives generally go to the Afrikan Cooperative Union.
Based on consultation with local people and acting on the advice given, many of the retail outlets being planned are designed to maximize the strategic location of the business hub, to attract customers from many different geographical locations. The advice given to us includes what to stock and sell and how to sell it, among other crucial information, which we had not previously considered.
Due to the warmth and support demonstrated by local people in helping to inform the Club's thinking and planning, it has made a commitment to make its equipment and people available to drill boreholes to provide running water in local villages. Lamin Tourey (see partners page) will lead this activity. The local communities where the Club has purchased land for the Cooperative, have not had running water in living memory. The Club is committed to being a good neighbour with the local people and assisting in their development to the best of its capabilities.
The food production and processing cooperative will have important social and economic impacts on the local community. The businesses being established will form an economic hub in an area with little jobs. Given the availability of land, there is plenty scope to expand activities and increase the number of partnerships with local producers and service providers. The workforce will be drawn from the local community, which has not benefited from much inward investment and development.
In line with this commitment, the membership contribution for those wishing to join the Cooperative who are born in Gambia will be 50 per cent of the amount paid by those from elsewhere. This policy was initially developed to encourage worker ownership for those employed by the Cooperative and its businesses and to create a way for local people to participate in wealth creation. The policy has been expanded to include all Gambians who want to join the cooperative.
More importantly, the real-world education, training, and experience available in an investment club or cooperative in business and finance is far superior than that received in most university business schools. Producing good and ethical local entrepreneurs is vital for national development.
Follow this page to see how we progress in this new and exciting stage of our development.
