A Female Banker Speaks
Friday 10th November 2006

When you educate a man, you educate an individual; but when  you educate a woman, you educate and develop a nation. Mrs Amie Jallow of Guaranty Trust Bank The Gambia is an exemplary woman in many respects. After achieving university education in the West, she returned to her  mother/father land  in 1992 to serve her nation and people. She has worked in the public sector, taught and administered in higher institutions of learning while building a loving and prosperous biological family as well as leading a success career life. She is now fully involved with the private sector, working currently as Group Head of Human Resource and Corporate Affairs at GTB.

She She She had the opportunity of speaking with this exemplary woman of substance. Please read on:

She She She: Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?

Amie: I am a Gambian, I started going to school in The Gambia at the primary level and the rest in England - that is, Secondary and University education. I got my first degree in political science; after that, I worked in the UK for three years then when I got married I returned to The Gambia in December 1992. In 1993 I worked at the Interior Ministry as Assistant Secretary then in July, I joined the Management Development Institute (MDI) as Management trainer, also worked in Management Policy Analysis Unit and Gender and Development Unit.

Between August 2002 and 2003, I went back to England to do my Masters in Business Administration.

Upon completion, I came back again in January 2004; then in March of the same year I rejoined MDI.  I left and joined Guaranty Trust Bank as head of Human Resources then moved up to the level of group head of the Human Resources administration and Corporate Affairs.

She She She: How is your bank helping women?

Amie: Guaranty Trust Bank is quite a dynamic institution in the sense that it is gender balanced and sensitive, and we promote youths, and we basically get the brightest youths in terms of performance.

She She She: How many women employees are there in your institution?

Amie: We have 72% women. At top management we have about seven women.

She She She: Does GTB give out loans to women groups?

Amie: Normally we tend to work with Non-Governmental organizations that promote the economic development of women. We also bank with some women kafoos (women groups) but when it comes to giving out loans, we do that with the representatives.

She She She: What are your aims and objectives?

Amie: My aim is just to continue to enhance my career, because if you look at it my profession is based on Human Resource. I started working in 1989 to continue to enhance the thirteen years work experience in management and Human Resources development.

She She She: Why did you choose banking as a career?

Amie: I came to banking to have an experience in private sector operations, to prove to myself that I can equally excel in the private sector as I have been in the public sector.

She She She: What are some of the challenges you face?

Amie: First of all the long hours; the other challenge is that you continually use your intellectual capacity at its maximum.

She She She: What is interesting in working at a bank?

Amie: You can see the immediate result for using your  intellectual capacity and get the reward for producing results; you also contribute towards the corner stone of the country’s development, which is the private sector as the engine for economic growth.

She She She: As a married woman, do the long hours at work affect your home?

Amie: Not really, because I have been in the profession for seventeen years, so this is only possibly through effectively balancing family with work, and here you achieve this through the support of your husband and housemaids, and I’m very lucky to get good maids.

She She She: What advice do you have for young women who want to be like you?

Amie: They must be prepared to study hard, stay focused on education, lead the disciplined life, and never give up on their ambitions.