Strengthening Relations: Gambian Minister of Information Hosts Guinea-Bissau’s Minister of Social Communication

By Fatou Sillah 

Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, Gambia’s Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, welcomed Florentino Fernando Dia, the Minister of Social Communications of Guinea-Bissau, for a working visit and to participate in The Gambia’s 60th Independence Anniversary celebrations.

On Monday, the two ministers held a press conference at the Ministry’s conference hall in Kanifing, where they discussed areas of mutual interest and provided updates on the progress of their bilateral relations.

The visit aimed to strengthen the long-standing ties between The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. During the press conference, Dr. Ceesay highlighted the crucial role of the media in promoting peace, stability, and development in the region. He also underscored the importance of the relationship between the two nations.

Dr. Ceesay spoke about the potential benefits of collaboration, particularly in the area of content sharing. He noted that learning about each other’s culture, history, and administration would help deepen mutual understanding.

“The two peoples need to know each other more, they need to understand each other’s culture, each other’s history, but also each other’s administration as well. We are going to come up with an MOU, I think it’s already been drafted, and we need to finalize it between the two state broadcasters, where we can exchange capacity, we can exchange technical expertise, but also exchange content. I think this will be the beginning of other strengthening ties between the two countries,” He Said. 

He further emphasized that enhancing trade relations, as well as increasing security and defense cooperation, would be key outcomes of this collaboration.

“The visit is timely and very relevant because we believe that the relationship between the Ministry of Social Communication of Bissau and the Ministry of Information of the Gambia, we need to set the pace and define the relationship for the other sectors as well,” He Said. 

Florentino Fernando Dia, Guinea-Bissau’s Minister of Social Communications, spoke in Portuguese, expressing that his visit was a testament to the strong bilateral ties between the two nations. He highlighted the potential for cooperation to foster trade, improve security and defense, and facilitate the exchange of content between the countries.