 Africa is the new frontier nobody's kidding us about this if anyone tells us that Africa Africa can develop they are only trying to put us down we have to realize that a lot of the wealth in the world is created where we are standing on this is this ground is extremely valuable land that we are standing on this continent of Africa and if we don't realize it millions of people are making so much money on us we need to start realizing that this is where it is get together as Africans and do what other people are doing with our wealth if someone ever told me that this hotel belongs to an African I won't believe it so I just want to tell you that first of all congratulations and thank you so much for being an African not an African I like that I saw that on your t-shirt actually oh you saw that absolutely I noticed all these small details of Africans that it's possible in Africa my name is water by the one and only annoying village boy from Ghana on a journey to change the narrative and also celebrate African excellence if I'm here today standing here with you I'm here to celebrate you man and I'm hired to celebrate you tell me your name who you are and I mean what do you do I am Malesala a Gambian okay I'm a village boy too because I come from the ghetto my family comes from the ghetto in Banjul they actually it's an area that was called that that is called half die why is it called half die because there was a pandemic and it killed half of the population oh so it's a very historic part of Banjul but it where a lot of migrants who moved into the Gambia went to live and eventually it actually produced a lot of leaders for this country so you are a descendant of a migrant I am a descendant of a migrant my my grandfather was from San Luis in Senegal yes so you're born and raised in the Gambia born and raised in the Gambia from a Gambian father and my mother she passed away four months ago may Allah grant her the highest Jannah and she was a wonderful woman but she she was from Suriname yes Suriname in South America whoa yes so this is like Caribbean represent yes absolutely it's it's it's an African Caribbean whole mixture amazing you ever left the continent I have I actually went to school in the US yeah I went to school and lived in the US for 12 years and at the completion of my education I decided to come back to my homeland I thought you got all your money that you're supposed to get in the US before you moved in here something you are saying giving you no money my brother come on what do you mean by US is not giving you money US only takes money away from you haven't you heard that yet I don't know unless you tell Uncle Sam how won't you heard of the Uncle Sam phenomenon I've never been there what as the Uncle Sam phenomenon means Uncle Sam gives but Uncle Sam takes more than he gives oh I'm learning that for the first time so this is where it is our motherland our fatherland and our homeland Africa is where it is this is where a lot of the world of the world actually is made they come and take what we own and go and make money with it and come and sell it back to us so we need to start realizing that it's time to make it ourselves here why is that happening then well we must take some of the blame we have we must take some of the blame but it's time for us to wake up and take responsibility and take charge of our destiny so this is what brought two gambians back home one went to school in the UK I went to my partner I went to school in in America we came back home I studied politics he is a lawyer childhood friends and we decided to come together from a partnership and start business childhood friend you guys grew up together in the garden we grew up together yes we were basically almost living opposite each other but from born and raised in the ghetto how did you find yourself in America actually what happened our grandfathers they educated on my side he educated his children my father became successful and managed to be able to afford to send us to go to school in the US we didn't have a university in Gambia then now we do but then when I was growing up we had no university in the Gambia so the only option we had was to go either to a university in the sub region or go to study in the States so I was lucky enough to go to the States I it was a very good experience for me it exposed me to the world and I brought back everything I learned back home that's really beautiful man let me know this hotel belongs to you and your friend how many of this hotel have you built so far we have five hotels we own and operate five hotels own and operate five hotels yes and all of them are in the Gambia they are all in the Gambia so basically we are the leaders in the hotel industry in the country before we got into this business Gambians had just started taking over this industry we got in the right place the right time and eventually we became the biggest hoteliers in the country let me understand yeah what is the inspiration behind you and your friend coming together to say that you know what let's build a hotel what inspired that basically tourism contributes 25% to our GDP so it's the most important industry for this country agriculture is there tourism is there but we saw an opportunity in tourism and we saw we realized that our world vision could be implemented quite well in developing the tourism sector of this country and when we decided to come home worked in the system Omar was a prosecutor in the courts and I actually worked with the Independent Electoral Commission of the Gambia after serving our nation publicly we decided to get into a private partnership and develop this very important industry of our country Gambia doesn't have oil we don't have gold we don't have backside we have beautiful beach and we have wonderful sun and beautiful people nice people which is a good recipe for tourism so we saw the opportunity there it was at that time mainly controlled by foreigners actually and we decided that we were gonna come into this industry and we are going to make this industry Gambian and show the whole world that we can do it better than everybody else which means that it's possible to make it in Africa then absolutely possible if you know how many people make it out in and out of Africa I mean I represent the youth in here yes and the youth of Africa normally says that you know what for us to make it in life we have to go out there before we come back to make it but you are here and telling us that it's possible to make it in Africa it's actually done it it's very possible to make it here it's it's okay to go go out there and you know broaden your world knowledge to give you a bigger picture of the world but in the end of the day this is where is this Africa is the new frontier nobody's kidding us about this if anyone tells us that Africa can't develop they are only trying to put us down we have to realize that a lot of the wealth in the world is created where we are standing on this is this ground is extremely valuable land that we are standing on this continent of Africa and if we don't realize it millions of people are making so much money on us we need to start realizing that this is where it is get together as Africans and do what other people are doing with our wealth you're opening my mind today and I would love to ask you so many questions what are the kind of opportunities that do you think Africans can take advantage of we of course know that Africa is the wealthiest continent in the world as far as natural resources God has endowed us with so many natural resources on top of that we also know that Africans are very strong people you know we have good genes we are strong people I mean if you see all these opportunities that God has given us and on top of that he has given us this strength the power to be able to work hard and to create things and to develop this this this continent of ours I think God has given us enough now it's up to us Africans to take what he has given us and do something out of it was your first ever hotel that you built in the Gambia? the first hotel actually we did not build we took it over from some investors that built a hotel but did not know how to manage it we came in as a political scientist and a lawyer and basically convinced those people that we can run this hotel for them so basically we got into this business by accident yes but we dedicated our time studied how it how running a hotel work because we had seen the opportunities of this country tourism was growing and the Gambian personality the Gambian weather I mean the Gambian beaches they were ripe for tourism and they were just waiting for someone to come and take advantage a positive advantage of them and so we convinced these guys listen we can do this if you cannot do it give it to us we'll do it they were not Gambians we took over that hotel we run it successfully we turned it into a profitable venture and eventually another opportunity came up with the same same kind of arrangement people built hotels and they did not know how to manage them we had at this point gained enough experience in how to manage and run hotels so Omar and myself decided that it was time to go to number two so we convinced the owner to also give us the opportunity of course and we totally stripped the whole hotel up renovated it and brought it up to at that time you know a very modern and a very modern hotel Gambia as a country is competing with so many other destinations so one thing that was important was to have this mindset that when you build a property it is not only concrete that is sitting there if concrete sits there and you're not dynamic and you don't change it and modernize it and keep it well maintained and keep the service up to world-level standards you will become number three or number four you're not going to become number one so we realized very quickly that the best way to do it was to modernize but modernization using African input inputs if you look at your room most of the furniture in your room was made actually not only in Gambia but in our backyard we brought in talented kids and they made the furniture in your room so which means that everything in here was made and produced in the Gambia in your room I would say 80% of the furniture in your room was made in the Gambia one thing we realized also in our construction because we're building massive buildings and we find some nature has been there before and our ancestors they respected nature you know so one thing we brought into our concepts is that we very rarely very very rarely felt trees we don't cut down trees where and where we cut down three we will replace it by 20 mature trees now I will give you a good example of how we respect nature if you look at this environment you see a building at the back and you see a building in the front so this but if you look at the right side you only see one building normally this building you see on the left should have been mirrored on this side but look at this we found this beautiful majestic and most probably few hundred years old yeah so what we decided as a policy was that we would actually exclude building an extra building here and preserve this beautiful tree which in our we believe that once we preserve nature nature protects us back and I think this is why you see our gardens are lush yes there you go there you go yeah so we we actually do not compromise developing a property by by by affecting the natural environment one thing that I want to say put those on is the way you guys design your pools you know the way you see the building and the pool in front and even the pool at the middle and I'm like this is well designed right the same person who designed it we have a lot of input in designing our properties and we also have a lot of input in the construction because whenever we come whenever we construct a hotel we are the project money managers I mean Tamara is a big development but we built it in one year because we spent every day of that one year here in this in the project but you are talking about pools I really believe that water enhances a property so I would really advise anyone who is looking into building a hotel and especially in Africa where the weather is nice you have the sunshine we don't have adverse in this region anyways we don't have really adverse weather systems I would advise that you use as much water in your in your planning as possible because it adds so much value to your project you will find out all our hotels if you look at Balafong if you look at Kalimba if you look at Tamala these are the three hotels that we have built you will find that they are surrounded by water I've seen that well and which means that you started managing a hotel and your first hotel that was built was the money that was made from managing absolutely so which one out of the three which one is the first one the first one is Balafong oh yes can you take me there yes I can we can go visit Balafong and you will see that when the vision to build a hotel was totally based on African architecture and Balafong gave that to us we wanted to build a hotel that was designed after the African hot a little bit modernized but when you look at Balafong as a hotel you will see the African architecture you will see the African touch on the buildings you will see the grass roofs and really if anyone who is coming to visit our continent as a tourist what's your experience what is Africa don't put them on a high-rise 20 30 floor building they already see that wherever they come from so you have to make your if you are talking about tourism you have to make your development as afrocentric as possible and we have to be proud of our African architecture if you go to if you go to the Far East you will see architecture you will see furniture design you will see that those people are very proud of what is theirs let us also we have I mean our forefathers great thinkers if we if you look at the artwork around the world I mean you know in Nigeria if you look at the artwork that has come from Nigeria that has been actually stolen and is being being exhibited in the best museums in the world we need to develop we need to take what is ours and develop it into what we call this modern African art and modern African architecture and then once we do that you will see that Africa has the nicest people Africa has wonderful weather Africa has wonderful landscapes we have beautiful beaches you will see that Africa can become the number one tourist destination in the world you said Africa can be yes why Africa is not number one travel business in the world I think to a point we need to respect more what is ours you know I encourage Aghanian or Nigerian tourists to come to Gambia instead of going to Dubai you know I mean you see those people spending money on other people okay why go and spend spend it here because then we develop each other we develop our countries you know we develop our people we develop our countries we create more brotherhood once African tourists come to an African country you will find out that you are creating more brotherhood between African countries and I think for us to move forward as a continent we need to find more synergies as Africans you know trade we need to trade more we need to open our borders to each other you know it's sad that Chinese can trade better in our continent and take our wealth and take it to China or any other nation can do that but an African doing business with an other African there's always some sort of there are always limitations and they're always struggles I mean I look at if I want to import something from Senegal I have to go through the Gambian border if Senegalese want to come to Gambia they have to go through a border we are one we speak the same language we eat the same food we intermarry you know there has to be free trade between us because that is the only way that we develop each other free and fair trade of course very important it has to be free but it has to be fair if you like let me understand if let's say free trade among ourselves what do you think will happen to the content wow imagine you have all developed in this country okay imagine if we use all our all our intellectual resources all our manpower resources you know all all our experiences as Africans what has been what is good about us and what you know people have done to us and take all of this and bring it together and decide that hey as a people we are going to be number one in the world the Chinese did it in how many years has China developed if you talk about Gambian hotels if you talk about Gambian the Gambian hospitality business and Gambian tourism business right now you cannot do it without talking about our two companies Jaliba leisure group and Balafeng company limited and you will not do it without talking about Tamada so we have to take over we have to take charge I'm so impressed and I want to tell you all something from today on what if you ever think that oh you're going to Dubai going to London you're going to Paris for as a holiday destination no choose the Gambia whenever you choose the Gambia choose Tamala absolutely and I mean it's it's a fact I mean Tamala has become the leading hotel in the country and it's 100% owned by us brother Maya welcome to kalimba whoa it's so beautiful out here kalimba is the baby of the group it's the latest it's the latest hotel we built whoa so which means this came after this came after Tamala yes yes listen I want to tell you something I love the fact that you guys appreciate nature yeah all these places full of trees man I don't think you planted these trees these trees were here a lot of the trees we planted in this development we plant that are present in this development we planted ourselves there's a simple equation on this take care of nature nature takes care of me what makes kalimba unique from orders in kalimba we brought in more of the African architecture we basically it was a marriage when the architect asked so what kind of a concept do you want I said to him I want a marriage between Balafong and Tamala so Balafong was a success story Tamala was a success story if you bring them together it can only be a success story I am here and I feel like not going back to Ghana thank you I mean you're welcome to stay Ghana is part of Africa and we are all Africans so Ghana Gambia all G we share a lot of things together so I love my continent how proud are you I mean how proud are you being an African I am a proud African I am a proud African I come from a very proud African heritage so does my partner our fathers have been great Africans in their own way his father as a businessman and my father as master Marina actually he captained one of the ships that Kwamin Krumah the great Kwamin Krumah I'm set up the black star line my father was one of the captains on the on the pra river so I'm his father almost father was actually a big businessman and he actually was the first Gambian to own a proper hotel in the Gambia I wanted to ask you the core value behind your success I this is what I say to a lot of young people come and ask me so what advice would you give me I say to them number one you have to be patriot you have to realize that you are nothing without the country that you are from we have to respect our heritage because we don't know we will never know where we're going if we don't know where we're coming from we have to be honest because honesty is everything we have to be hard-working because what work ethics is what drives and I also do know they say lock lock lock in anything in life when when you see these things happen there must be an element of luck but I don't think it's luck I believe when people have integrity when people are honest when people have to drive and work hard because that's the only way you build things by walking God opens the door for you listen this question that I'm gonna ask you right now it's questions that so many Africans have been asking it's so expensive to travel in Africa but is it so expensive to live in here you will find Gambia and I mean with the standards of hotels that you have value for money you will find most probably you can maybe even fly to Gambia sustain yourself for a week including a hotel food board drinks and everything for what it might cost you to spend a weekend in Lagos or in Akra or even in Dhaka this is why a lot of Senegalese now have discovered Tamala they've discovered Gambia and they've seen that there's a lot of value for their money when they come to visit us and I mean we have world-class hotels and they can come and the hotels are quite good value for money so on the issue of expensive mode of travel of course I think this is something that our governments need to really start looking into we need to improve the way that we communicate between our countries because that's the way we can draw our borders closer to each other and this is how I mean it should not be easier to travel from from Akra to Dubai than from Akra to Banjul it should not be and our government I think it is their responsibility to make the ground amenable for investors who want to invest in the airline industry once you as a Ghanaian realize that when I come to invest in your country I'm your brother you should rather me come and invest in Ghana and your government should support me more than they should maybe an Indian or a Chinese because in the end of the day if we don't develop our subregion together we can never develop this continent you know and I mean let's not let's not kid ourselves the South Americans they realize that they have to develop you know within regions Southeast Asia they are doing it Europe has done it already you know so we need to really start thinking about how we can bring all our strengths together to build our subregion and in so doing once all the subregions are built up we our continent can be where it should be is it a last project that you're doing no this is how can it be come on I'm I'm I still not young and vibrant and I still have too much energy I'm not retiring no no no we still have a lot to do what is our next project our next project is we're building a mini city mini city yes we're building a development that encompasses a hotel it will include luxury villas it's gonna include some high-rise apartment buildings it will include a small hospital it will include a commercial center mall restaurants on the beach so it's a beachfront development that we will start construction before the end of the year it's a three-year project and we encourage any any any of your viewers that want to come and invest in the Gambia it's really good investment opportunity and again like we are not jealous to invite other Africans to come and build the Gambia with us because again we are building Africa I think the next time I'm gonna come in here it's gonna be so difficult to know that okay I was here two years ago how come this place has changed a lot of styles are happening in the Gambia listen you lived abroad and I know that you have a message for Africans living abroad what would that message be Africa is open to you a lot of non-Africans see the opportunities here and they are coming in and they are taking advantage of opportunities that belong to us so my message to Africans in the diaspora is work hard educate yourself you know save and come come and reinvest in this continent beautiful continent of ours this whole concept that we Africans who are here do not want them to come and join us I think is wrong we encourage we encourage Africans and not for example me as a Gambian I encourage not only Gambians but Africans in the diaspora to come and make Gambia their home and to come and invest in this country let's take ownership of our continent you know I love the fact that you always talk about let's take ownership of continent which means that you've seen a lot of experience along saying how other people from different part of the world are taking advantage of the continent which means you have a message for continental Africans yeah I mean for continental Africans work hard be honest and welcome Africans from the diaspora I think we need to between us between Africans we need to create tighter bonds we need to have more protection for each other and we need to give more opportunities to each other so all these different filters that are put in our our systems for to promote for example indigenous invest in investors I think we start need to we need to start also looking at protecting and also giving certain facilities to African investors from this I need to ask you that what has been the major challenge that you face establishing this as a Gambian in the Gambia major challenge the the the the biggest challenge was not creating the hardware the biggest challenge was the software to find I mean when when you build a wall-class hotel of course you have to run it as a wall-class entity and it was very difficult to find the right personnel locally to to run it from the beginning and to get the engine running from the beginning to the standards that we wanted but we did not relent on this what we did actually was we looked at a few Gambians that were in the diaspora that were that already had experience in major hotels in the world and we brought them back home and we gave them these key positions and their jobs were to make sure that from day one our ship was sailing smoothly but more importantly to also share the knowledge that they have gained working in wall-class hotels also with the the local staff if you had a chance to change one thing in Africa what would it be wow that's a wonderful question I think I'm wanting I would like if I had a chance to change one thing I would like to see Africans respect what is ours more I would like to see Africans respect each other more I would like to see Africans put their hands together to develop this continent faster I don't think we are doing enough of that I don't think we are enough in solidarity with each other and really I task all our leaders to start thinking this way to start thinking about how once we create bigger trading groups between each other we keep our resources here once we I mean why should I be buying for example cement from Italy when I can buy cement from Nigeria I want to say thank you so much for talking to me if somebody want to book a hotel in here what are the procedure that you need to follow well Google the hotels go to www.tamalaresort.com go to www.balafonresort.com www.kalimbaresort.com and be sure that if you book we will take very good care of you and you will also have an opportunity to meet me because I am you know what I want him to hear my name all the time so that he never forgets me thank you so much for watching and I'll see you all in the next one my name is Mr. Ghana baby the one and only annoying village boy from Ghana see you in the next one peace out