Pa Njie, a Gambian show-biz promoter based in Sweden has said that The Gambia have great singers, but the lack of technical expertise to  promote the industry is an hindrance to its development.

In a chat  with What’s On anchorman from his based in Stockholm, Sweden.  Mr Njie, who has been living in Sweden for a number of years is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Onegambia.com, an organisation set up to promote the rich cultural heritage of The Gambia as well as to promote Gambian artists to various parts of Europe.

In this interview with What’s on, Mr Njie talks a lot about his career, plans for Gambian artist among others.

Excerpts:

Give a brief background of your humbleself?

:My real name is Momodou Njie but known as Pa Njie. I have been living in Sweden for a number of years(more than 15 years to be precise) where I work as an IT Engineer .

When did you start as a music promoter and  establishment  of onegambia.com?

I do not consider myself as a real  music promoter since I do not do it on a full-time basis. The website and organisation, OneGambia was established in 2005. Prior to this, I ran an online audio streaming server and distributed the URL to a handful of friends and acquaintances. So they could connect and listen to latest Senegambian music.

Is it a registered Organisation?

Yes, The name OneGambia is from the title of a music album produced by DJ MO of West Coast radio. A great guy who had and is still contributing a lot to pushing forward Gambian music and had been of immense help which I am very appreciative of.

What is the main target of your onegambia.com?

What actually gave birth to the organisation is the desire to share the great music from the smiling coast with fellow Gambians in the diaspora and friends of The Gambia.

My organisation is out to showcase the rich culture and music to Gambians and friends of The Gambia- to give them a pat on the shoulder saying . To date, we have received numerous emails and phone calls from people expressing appreciation of our excellent work and wish we had the resources to do even more.

As CEO of onegambia.com, what are some of your plans for Gambian artists?

My organisation has some plans which I do not want to disclose now, but our newly set-up branch in The Gambia will co-ordinate this in collaboration with concerned parties. As we have done in the past, my organisation will help and support  and encourage them as much as possible.

How many Gambians artists have you successfully promoted in Sweden?

Success is hard to measure by any yardstick. Having said that,  I would not be too wrong to say  that my organisation has contributed a lot in exposing a handful of our musicians in Scandinavia by bringing them on promotional tours.

You visited Banjul sometime in December, what was the purpose of your visit?

My visit was mainly to take a break from the stress and to ‘recharge my batteries’ but it did however give me the opportunity to work on a few projects like releasing of Sambou Suso’s debut album, gathering material for the website, setting up of an office and some private projects  among others.

How can you assess the performance of Gambian musicians out their in Europe?.

As far as I know, few are making it whilst most are struggling to make a break. It is a real struggle but Gambian music promoters around this end are gradually feeling the urge to feature Gambian artists more in their events which is very positive.

Do you think The Gambia music industry is developing.If not  what needs to be done to adjust it?

My opinion is that the music industry is developing but the industry is also stagnant at some point. We have great singers but where are the instrumentalists, sound engineers etc. So to think that the industry will develop without these crucial components is wishful thinking by any stretch.

Do you face any difficulty in tracing Gambian artist in that part of the world?

Not at all, but there are some ‘hidden’ that we may never be able to get in contacts with for one reason or the other.

Any final word?

I cant wait for the day copyright law will be passed and enforced to protect our artists.