UK-based Gambian & co-founder of supersonicz money transfer talks to Observer Bantaba.

Bantaba: Thank you for granting us this interview. Can you tell us who is Almamy Fatty?

Fatty: Thank you very much The Daily Observer for this fantastic opportunity for me and Supersonicz Money Transfer for people to know me and my contributions to nation building.

My name is Almamo Fatty, I hailed from a very small village from the heart of The Gambia called Niamina Piniai. I started my career as a banker in The Gambia with the Trust Bank Ltd in 2000 after completing my A Levels and Diploma as a cashier and then moved unto GCAA briefly before joining GTbank as one of the pioneers of that bank in The Gambia where I worked for over a year and then left for the UK for my studies. I am now a qualified certified chartered accountant (ACCA).

Then in 2009 I saw an opportunity in the finance market in the area of money transfers and as an ex-banker I have a vested interest and venture into this business which I have been running since then with my brother and business partner Njundu Fatty. This is how Supersonicz Money Transfer comes into the market and thankfully today we are Gambia`s biggest money transfer company operating all over Europe to Gambia and now from USA and we also send money all over Africa, Asia and Europe and we will be starting the Latin America very shortly Insha-Allah, thus that will ultimately make us a worldwide company, which I think is a great thing for us as Gambians we are doing our best to put our flag high in the world map in the services of remittance and financial services overall as everyone can see that our logo is a symbol of our national flag and represents all the colours.

Bantaba: What motivated you to go into money transfer business and how this business is for you in The Gambia?

Fatty: What motivated me are different factors. First as an immigrant in the UK I find it hard to send money to my love ones in the provinces as money transfer those days was centered only in the Kombos. Therefore, I saw the opportunity that I can offer something different to the Gambians in the UK and I saw the opportunity that I can do this with a wider reach and I decided that I will give this reach to the Gambians and this is how I started Supersonicz Financial Ltd with a nationwide coverage.

Other main reason was the fact that I have done a research in the market and found out very disturbing revelations about the amount of money Western Union alone has ripped of Africa which according the reports was sufficient to put 14 million African children to school and still provide clean water to more than 21 million Africans and yet still they continue to rip Africa and Africans of the monies they worked so hard in the west to help their love ones back in The Gambia and rest of Africa, see the more recent sources: http://www.theafricareport.com/North-Africa/money-transfer-are-africans-getting-ripped-off.html and  http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/nov/29/money-transfer-companies-remittances-tessa-jowell. So I decided I will bring something to Gambians which will be of similar standards and in fact a better service quality than Western Union by partnering with our local banks which then only Western Union was the only company enjoying that and because of my banking background with my business partner we were able to convince the banks to work with us giving same services to Gambians but at a cheaper rate. We are Gambians and make it easy for communications with those who finds it difficult to communicate in English.

And I am happy today that as the biggest Gambian own in the market we are able to help so many Gambians sending their monies easier and faster with our instant services on real time to all over Gambia. Since we have a good respond from the Gambians this has really grow our business and I decided to take this opportunity to the rest of Europe and now USA and I thank Allah we are expanding more and more across the world not only serving Gambians but the whole Africa not only from the UK but across Europe and USA. So we thank Allah our business is growing and we want to do more for the Gambians in the diaspora and within The Gambia.

Based on that reasons, we have now decided to go into core banking at micro level as we have also seen in The Gambia that middle and small businesses find it very difficult to attract funding from the banks. We have helped Gambians in the diaspora; we now want to extend that to our own people back home in Gambia not only for creating job opportunities but also in helping towards poverty alleviation in Gambia. And Insha-Allah, we want to bring the success we have in Europe to Gambia and we will be making difference to Gambians in providing services that every Gambian will be very proud of. Therefore, I am very grateful that business is growing despite our challenges.

Bantaba: How would you describe the environment in The Gambia for businesses like yours?

Fatty: We started our business in UK and the Europe and honestly speaking there is no place like home and there are lots of opportunities in The Gambia and only Gambians can change our country and everyone owe that to this wonderful and fantastic country that’s why we have decided to do another huge investment in The Gambia in core banking but at micro level because we have seen that that’s what Gambians need, companies that will come to our country to help alleviate poverty and unfortunately, all the investment in our banking sector is towards the corporate world but is Gambia really a corporate country? At Supersonicz, we feel banking should be towards people like tomato sellers in our lumos and markets and how to help farmers increase their produce not only for their daily consumptions but towards self-sufficiency. This is what we believe The Gambia finance sector should do to help alleviate poverty and it’s not forth coming at the level we would expect. So Insha-Allah we will be open to the public very soon and we will be here to serve the lowest income earners in the community who do not have the expensive mansions to use as collateral. So it’s obvious we have the right environment for any kind of business not only for business like ours.

Bantaba: What will be your message to other Gambians residing outside the country in investing in the socio-economic development of the country?

Fatty: The Gambia first of all is our country no matter where we live. There is never any place like home and it doesn’t matter how long a stick stays in the river, it can never turn to a crocodile. One of the most important things for investment in any country is peace and thanks to Allah we have such a fantastic and peaceful country like our smiling coast of The Gambia. Only Gambians can make Gambia a better place. So I urge everyone to come to our smiling coast of The Gambia and invest it’s a good place for business. The opportunities are huge and massive. If you look at our banking sector today, 90% of all banks are foreign banks when Gambians should invest in our banking sector to make our own like the Nigerians are doing and this is the reasons Supersonicz has decided to invest in this sector combined with our huge experience in running a multinational company.

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Fatty: Supersonicz as a money transfer company is already covered across the whole Gambia through our own Supersonicz branches plus our partners; GTbank, Trust bank, Yonna Forex Bureau and Zenith Bank giving us the biggest coverage than any Gambian own money transfer company and some of those branches open even on Sundays and till 7pm making sure our customers have guarantee in receiving their monies any day of the week including most public holidays.

With our new micro finance that will open its doors to the public very soon will have the outreach to Gambians across the country as our target is to help alleviate poverty in this country. As institutions we need to help our government, our country in meeting this important goal and it’s a collective duty of every Gambian and we want to give our 110% in this sector and with our wonderful team and the huge experience in doing business across the Europe and USA, we know the services that will help Gambians especially the poor and we will give our utmost to Gambians and therefore, we look forward to that tremendous support we receive from Gambians across Europe and USA to  have the same support in our own motherland, with our excellent customer services, tailored services for Gambians and Africans across the world to replicate the same success stories in the banking sector of our good country The Gambia.

Bantaba: What are some of the challenges you are facing in the market?

Fatty: The challenges we are facing right now is reaching out to every Gambian across Europe and USA as customers are always asking when we will be physically present in some of the countries not covered yet and that’s a challenge because it’s about giving service in process making something or reaching out even if you don’t make something but we are able to breakeven. So my target is as mentioned earlier is that this year we want to be physically present in all countries where we have some good numbers of Gambians across the Europe and enter new markets like the Latin America.

The other challenge is that we want to help the middle class to the bottom end of the Gambian people in helping to alleviate poverty but that comes with lots of challenges as we will be dealing with very low income earners where the objectives are different from corporate banking. However, with the huge experience we have backed by our overseas money transfer company which is growing tremendously well we are very confident we will make a difference to lots of lives of our dear country as this is now our main objective especially in doing business in Gambia. We want to add value to Gambians and we will add value to Gambians and we are ready for that challenge.

Bantaba: What will be your final words?

Fatty: My last word is to reach out to every Gambian today who is reading this to help us grow more and more by referring Supersonicz to all their friends and families across the Europe and USA. We send money to Gambia from Banjul to Basse all instant and to all over Africa. We charge less as we are Gambians and I feel it’s very wrong for Africans to be ripped off by these big multinational companies like Western Union, Money Gram and RIA, when we are giving same service level like them and have the same or even better coverage across The Gambia likewise. We offer excellent services, very competitive, efficient and trustworthy.

Whatever we earn we bring it back to our smiling coast of The Gambia and this is justifiable for the fact that we have now invested heavily in setting up a micro finance in The Gambia, which will be opened to the Gambian public very soon and where all our employees are Gambians. We have employed more than 40 Gambians across Europe and USA and The Gambia. Will we ever see the likes of Western Union going into sectors that will create the employment opportunities we do and fight alleviate poverty? No! So the answer is; we can do it and let’s do this together and let’s do it now. Please we are asking everyone to inform their love ones to use Supersonicz across Europe and USA. They can all register free online at www.supersonicz.co.uk or www.supersoniczus.com and transfer money anywhere, anytime. That’s the beauty of our service.

We will also urge every Gambian whether you live in The Gambia or Europe or USA to open bank account with Supersonicz Micro Finance when we are open to the public. We will have the services to serve both Gambians within the country and for those leaving outside in Europe and USA. We will give you the services you need.

I would like to tell everyone we are physically present in the UK, USA, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Republic of Ireland, Portugal, France, and Greece and we are online across the whole Europe. We appreciate your support as Gambians and we still need you more to take us to that next level for both the money transfer and the core banking in The Gambia and we are confident we will do this together.

I will say a big thank you to everyone who helped us either directly and indirectly and to all our potential customers, who after reading this interview will all start using our services and I thank Allah who gives us the good health and wisdom to be able to achieve what we achieved with my best brother and business partner Njundu Fatty and the Supersonicz Team, and we thank our families, the whole Gambia and Africa.

Fatty: Thank you