Jigeen Ñi Tamit, a women's entrepreneurship programme in Senegal, now has 46 beneficiary companies. Among these, the EIG Kawral active in Mbour, led by Coumba Diop.
Hello Coumba. Can you tell us something about yourself?
Hello, my name is Coumba Diop, Mrs Gate, and I am the president of EIG Kawral. I am married and have 6 children.
How did you start your business?
The idea came to me when I saw fruit rotting every day during its season. I thought about starting to transform them, without training, without experience, to solve this problem. Since 2003, I have been storing the fruit in my own way, and occasionally I documented how to do it. Agri-food processing became a passion. I then received some training and it was in 2007 that I started my family business. Kawral means meeting/union in Pulaar.
What does your company bring to the community?
I live in an environment where girls work in homes as domestic servants and I would like to put an end to this. I train girls so that they can start their own business. I have already helped several girls who were prostitutes. Transformation moves a country forward. There are always fruits and vegetables, as soon as one finishes another starts, there is always work to be done.
What do you produce?
We produce jams, syrups, juices, dried fruit, local cereals, and I recently added canned vegetables. I also started making spices, to avoid the broth cubes that everyone uses.
How do you see the future of your company?
My wish is to have a large, sustainable and efficient company. Thanks to the Jigeen Ñi Tamit programme, we are beginning to have clear visions of what we need to do, especially with regard to accounting. The company has become more professional. In 5 years it will be a well-established company, the children are there and they are committed.
What are your aspirations?
To see my company grow and see the young people involved, able to get a job thanks to the company, known nationally and internationally. We also want to limit the consumption of imported products through what we produce. The Senegalese use a lot of broth cubes for cooking, but we don't know what's in them. We do know, however, what is in the products we produce ourselves. Local products work well and we no longer want to use what we have not manufactured or processed. We want to consume local and natural!
The Jigeen Ni Tamit programme is a programme implemented by APEFE in partnership with the Ministry of Women, Family, Gender and Child Protection in Senegal and funded by the Belgian Development Cooperation (DGD).
