Four consular advisers from the National Chamber of Craft Trades of Gabon (CNMAG), Tété Thomas Ondeno (Chairman of the Economic Affairs and Provincial Development Commission), René Patrick Bourdès (Training and Apprenticeship Commission), Aristophane Tsinga Massala (Arts and Professions) and Yannick Dani Moussounda Ngoma (Commission Register of Trades), paid a courtesy visit, Monday, May 8, to the Communal Council of Elders of the city of Port-Gentil, economic capital of Gabon, in order to present to gray heads the missions of this institution created two years ago.

In the absence of Jean-Philippe Igouwet, president of the Municipal Council of Elders, unable to attend, its first vice-president, André Marc Apérano, made it a point to edify visitors on the role of the infra-municipal body , informal and apolitical placed under the supervision of the Mayor. It is, he said, a framework for consultation and suggestion on issues related to the development of the municipality, the functioning of the municipal institution and the harmonization of human relations between the inhabitants of the city.

Following him, the consular elected officials developed the main missions of their chamber, one of the challenges of which is to bring the crafts sector to significantly influence the national economy, in terms of contribution to the GDP. To do this, it is necessary, among other things, to register craftsmen, to offer them multifaceted training, to support them in the creation of craft businesses, to ensure their representation with the public authorities.

An emanation of the Ministry of Commerce, small and medium-sized enterprises, the CNMAG must, ultimately, make crafts a pillar of Gabon's economic diversification.

For the Elders, this government initiative is welcome, because it will, in particular, make it possible to transmit and preserve ancestral know-how.

Faithful AFANOU EDEMBE

Port Gentil/Gabon

Photo: an elected consular exhibitor