Yaye Ministere, a Trailblazer in Advertising
Friday 7th April 2006

Ndey Sainabou Jeng, commonly known as Yaye Ministere, a renowned and very hardworking lady, was born in Banjul some 50 years ago. After her secondary school, when she studied both English and French, Yaye Ministere worked at various business establishments in the country including a Cold Storage Enterprise, and the National Partnership Enterprise owned by Fisco Conateh in 1973. She was also among the best hairdressers in the country. She later engaged in selling textiles and other goods, as well as going on business trips between Banjul and Senegal.

Sainabou Jeng also was the first woman to obtain a licence to run a lottery enterprise in The Gambia. With her wealth of experience and the skills she later developed in advertising, Yaye Ministere decided to enter the advertisement industry for a fulltime career.
The following is her encounter with SHE SHE SHE.

SHE SHE: When did you start advertising?
N.S. Jeng: I started advertising in 1972.
At that time there was one white man called Newco Gambia, who was having a shop in our compound at Allen Street. He was selling tie and die and wanted to advertise his business, so he asked one Adama Nyang who also contacted me to join her to do it. By then we didn’t know about advertisement. Then it was only Radio Syd, which was operating on a commercial basis. So we did the advert for him, and he paid each of us D150.

SHE SHE: What motivated you to take advertising as a profession?
N.S. Jeng: I always want to struggle for myself. I started hustling for myself at the age of seventeen because I was alone; I have no sister or brother to help me. In relation to the advertisement, there was one lady in our compound who used to talk alot, so one day I told my mum about how the lady talks alot. My mum said to me if the lady’s talk is important and interesting that can be a career, but at that time I could not understand my mum’s statement or proverb. But when it happened that I did the advert for the white man and was paid D150 and I showed the money to my mum, she repeated the same proverb. It also happened that the late Deyda Hydara and Pap Saine [both of The Point newspaper], whilst they were working at Radio Syd, started encouraging me to keep doing the advertisement show. One day, Deyda asked me to do an advert, which I did with Pap Saine and I was given D75 by Deyda. Again, when I showed the money to my mum, she repeated the same proverb. I then thought about it and said to myself: ‘I have to continue doing it as a career’.

SHE SHE: Have you ever undergone any course on advertisement?
N.S. Jeng: No, I was only given support by experienced people like Deyda Hydara, Pap Saine, George Christensen and his wife.
When George came into the studio one day, the first person he asked for to do an advert, was me; it was to advertise on the late Amady Jarra’s business. Since then he and his wife have been contacting me about adverts and encouraging me to carry on since he is well experienced in it.

SHE SHE: How do you feel about this job?
N.S. Jeng: It is good for me, and I don’t do it for people to know me, they already know me before this. Secondly, I don’t go out looking for adverts; people lookout for me to advertise their business.

SHE SHE: What is your procedure in doing your adverts?
N. S. Jeng: I do it like when people come to me or called me and explain everything they want me to advertise for them, then I charge them for the service; my main aim is to make sure that the adverts go down well with the public and their products market very well.

SHE SHE: Are you doing any other job apart from this?
N.S. Jeng: Yes, I’m running an enterprise with a telecentre, and a photocopy machine. I also have a tailoring shop and some other businesses.

SHE SHE: You appear to be highly engaged in a lot business. Do you have time to cook at home as a married woman?
N.S. Jeng: Yes, I cook at home. Nothing stops me from doing my marital duties. I even have a restaurant at home where I sell food.
SHE SHE: How many children do you have?
N.S. Jeng: I have four girls.

SHE SHE: What do you think your husband feels about you doing these adverts on TV?
N.S. Jeng: My husband is very supportive and understanding for that matter. He never feels bad about it because he sometimes guides me; he is really encouraging me.

SHE SHE: You were given an Award at the Silver Jubilee of National Women Council and Women’s Bureau. How do you feel about it?
N.S. Jeng: I feel very proud about it. I thank the Awardees, the National Women Council and Fabex Promotion. Twenty-one of us were awarded but it doesn’t mean we are the only hardworking ladies, because not everybody can be awarded.

SHE SHE: What’s is your perception about Gambia women in terms of work?
N. S. Jeng: Gambian women are very hardworking. If all African women are like them, there will be progress [in Africa], because they struggle a lot.

SHE SHE: Any advice for them?
N.S. Jeng: My advice is that women should come together as one and work hard. Let’s avoid the notion if a woman is poor she can’t work with or associate with those who are rich; we are all one and should help one another.

SHE SHE: How can one become a good advertiser?
N.S. Jeng: Advertising is something that needs creativeness. You have to be natural, be yourself, you don’t advertise yourself but for people. When doing it, make sure it is interesting and attracts the people so that they take it serious. Every time we develop new ways to attract people. We do this mainly through the way we talk to them about the business. As for me I don’t only do advert on TV and radio, I also go out to shops, supermarkets and other markets in town to find out whether the product I advertise is marketing.