I hereby appeal to the leadership of the Barrow Government to kindly emphasise economic diversification by as well including the Arts and Culture sectors or the Creative Economy (film, music, design, fashion, digital arts, folklore, publishing, events, etc.) into the blueprint.

It is an embarrassment that The Gambia is still lagging behind in the areas of the cultural economy.

Dictator Jammeh preferred wasting our resources on fly-by-night prostitutes and hustlers parading as film stars from outside than investing in conscientious home-grown talents. If those imported stars were worth all the noise and monies spent on them, why is it that they could not build the Gambian arts scene to world standards?

They shamelessly campaigned for the Kanilai dictator while arrogantly insulting some of us who challenged their paymaster Jammeh, by calling us names.

The truth is that the Nigerian, Ghanaian and Senegalese film and TV industries were built by their indigenous stakeholders and not by the Chinese, Europeans, Americans or Asians. If the Senegalese  can break  the monopoly  of South American telenovelas and Nollywood videos through home-grown contents  like "Wiri Wiri", we Gambians too can build a vibrant creative economy when we are given the due support and encouragement.

Dictator Jammeh was just abusing Pan-Africanism in concert with those greedy outside stars. For a genuine Inter-African collaboration to succeed, we Gambians have to build the foundations of our creative economy first.

We are doing our parts already. Thanks to our personal sacrifices, we the stakeholders of CINEKAMBIYA are going to release at least 10 Gambia-made films by Gambians in 2017 as started with my PAIN OF SORROW film on 21st March 2017. 

Ten films in a year is a record for a country that was crippled by misplaced priorities of 22 years of dictatorial rule.

I pray that the Barrow Coalition does not fall into the same trap of marginalising/side-lining home-grown talents just as dictator Jammeh was doing.

The inclusion of the Creative Economy in the much-awaited blueprint of the Barrow Administration will stimulate job creation for the youths and the reintegration of "back way" compatriots into the productive economy.

Watch out for my upcoming article titled "Allocate Jammeh's Nollywood Plots To Gambian Creative Talents - At least 10 Gambian films to be released in 2017."  

For The New Gambia Our Homeland,

Prince Bubacarr Aminata Sankanu

Master of Letters in Film Studies: Theory and Practice (University of Stirling, Scotland, UK)

Digital Film and Animation Diploma (SAE Institute, Cologne, Germany)

Pioneer, Cinekambiya Film Industry

Sanxaanu Kaggoro Film Kaffo (SANXAAFI)

CINEKAMBIYA International Film Festival (CIFF)