As The Gambia makes its mark, however small, on the international political arena, more countries are seeing it as offering a gateway to West Africa and the rest of Africa. The opening of a station by Radio France International is just the begining of better things to come. The opening of a French embassey in the country will go a long way in cementing the fruitful relation existing between the two countries. In addition to signifying the improved relations between the two countries, it will tremendously ease the burden of going all the way to Dakar, often for days, to get a French visa. Culled from the Independent, please read on. Have a good day, Gassa. RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONAL TO OPEN STATION IN THE GAMBIA Radio France International would soon open a station in The Gambia as part of their plan to promote the French language. Mr. Gilles Amat, the cultural adviser at the French embassy for Senegal and the Gambia, revealed this to the press. Mr. Amat who was on a visit in the country from the 11th to the 13th December 2001 said that the director of RFI Mr. Alain Massi will come to The Gambia on Sunday to discuss the plans with the Gambian authorities. Mr. Amat also added that plans are also on the way to help in training T.V. personnel. He further said that he was very impressed with the Gambian media specially the newspapers and the radio stations for promoting the French language in The Gambia. He revealed that his visit to The Gambia is to meet the SOS for Education Anne Theresse Jatta to find ways of helping them to promote the French language in the school system and to assess the level of the language. He added that the Gambian society are interested in the language. “I have seen young and dynamic Gambians in Alliance France-Gambierre and PADEF,” Mr. Amat said. He further added that French is becoming a compulsory subject in the University of The Gambia, “which will help the country to have a good number of trained teachers in the secondary school level.” Mr. Amat said that they aim to augment the human resources and that for now they have 300 trained teachers whitin PADEF. Mr. Amat also said that they have brought items like tape recorders, four computers for the education department and that each student in the secondary school who is doing French will receive a book all over the country. Mr. Amat finally said that they plan to invite Gambian artists from France so that they can expose their work in an international exposition called “biennal des Arts”. The director of Alliance and the project manager of PADEF Mr. Jean Pierre Huguet also attended the press conference. In another development,...... PRESIDENT JAMMEH, OTHERS TO RECEIVE UK AWARD The Association of Business Executives, a United Kingdom management education organisation, which runs education programmes in The Gambia, has listed President Yahya Jammeh, among other personalities, for the conferment of awards during the association’s meeting with the country’s business community next year at The Kairaba Beach Hotel. The awards will be presented to recipients by the chief executive of the association, Mr. John Towers during his visit to the country. According to sources within the business community, The Association of Business Executives is keen to go into partnership with the Gambian government especially in the area of educational development of the country. A source within the association here who preferred anonymity was quoted as saying, “it is our way of saying thank you to the awardees, especially the president for promoting education, tourism and business in The Gambia.” _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>