#BrandGambia: What The Gambia Really Need is the 'Birth of a new Republic' NOT 'the Birth of a new Country Brand'

Photo source: thegambia.gm

During the past week, Twitter and Facebook have been inundated with a new hashtag - #brandgambia. Some commentators made a big fuss out of what it is referred to as ‘the birth of a new country brand’ while others simply ridiculed the idea. As usually the case, whenever something is created or introduced, people's opinions always tend to be divided. Some will feel optimistic while others will always be pessimistic, at least for the beginning. And thanks to social media, nowadays people can easily express their opinions or voice their concerns on whatever subject matter there is. So this accords myself and many like me the opportunity to add our voices to any burning issues or hot topics of discussion.

As the hashtag #brandgambia began trending, I started to dig in to find out more information about the project. Thankfully there is a dedicated website already up and running. I must stress however that I was very disappointed with the elementary nature of the information on the homepage especially the vision, mission and positioning statements. Whoever is responsible for editing that website must go back to the drawing board because what is put out there as a vision statement is nothing like one. That is simply a point of view at best! Remember a destination’s brand have to be credible and real, so it cannot simply be manufactured.

The brand’s mission statement according to the site however is; “to stimulate sustainable growth in The Gambia towards middle income economic status.”  That is indeed a very bold statement but then again, it fail to clearly convey the key components of a good mission statement.

So there we go! We have heard such statements over and over again. The government of the first republic promised us back in the days that the Gambia will become the Singapore of Africa by the turn of the new millennium. Fast forward 30 years, nothing happens! so they were sent packing with their empty promises by disgruntled soldiers. Now the government of the second republic came up with the ‘Vision 2020 slogan’ - which they hope will transform the Gambia into a highly developed model country. Yet again, fast forward 22 years and barely 4 years to the targeted year - 2020, we are now left to backtrack from hoping to become a ‘highly developed model country’ to simply trying to become a ‘middle income economy’. So after 51 years of independence, we are still force to 'hope and dream' without any tangible or practical 'ways and means' to realise our dreams.

My take on the #brandgambia project is therefore plain and simple. At this point in time, the Gambia certainly does not require a new brand name but rather a new Republic with fresh ideologies. I argued in a previous blog post that; it beggars belief after 51 years of nationhood, the Gambia is only in her second republic. The government of the first republic’s almost 30 years reign is often quashed by the incumbent government for failing in its development efforts. The same narrative is today being upheld by the opposition towards the 22 year rule of the current government. It just goes to show that overstaying in power is never the right thing to do. Clinging onto power for too long simply leads to a point of stagnation in development, no matter how hard you try - just ask one Mr. Robert Mugabe or Mr. Paul Biya.

We therefore hope and pray that the December 2016 Presidential elections will peacefully usher in the third republic, with a competent government that fully understands the values of bilateral and multilateral cooperation with other countries.