The US tech company that’s trying to solve irregular migration AND recycle its e-waste
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Read Time: 4 mins
“Back way” is a term used locally in The Gambia, West Africa, to describe the route taken by many, most often young men, to reach Europe. It involves travelling by land to the tip of Africa, then across the sea to the European continent. This is an incredibly dangerous journey that can involve risking one’s life, losing money, being abandoned in the Sahara Desert, or being detained in inhumane conditions in Libya, according to the Migrant Project. If the migrant does arrive in Europe after this ordeal, they are classed as “irregular,” or “illegal.”
The number of Gambians choosing to take the “back way” journey is disproportionately high. The Gambia is Africa’s smallest mainland nation with a population of 2.6 million, or 0.2% of Africa’s total population of 1.4 billion.
Yet, ActionAid states in a report that over 20,000 Gambians were “recorded as arriving in Europe by sea” from 2016-18. “They were the eighth largest nationality of the arrivals and comprised 4.7% of the total.” The International Organization for Migration gives an even starker picture and says that between Jan-Feb 2016, Gambians comprised the highest number of arrivals by sea to Italy.
ActionAid lists “lack of jobs in rural and urban areas and lack of skills” as one of the key reasons why Gambians are migrating in this way.
In one of the worst tragedies, 58 migrants were reported to have died off the coast of Mauritania after their boat capsized after running out of fuel. The ship had departed from The Gambia in November 2019.
And Europe isn’t the only place migrants are trying to reach. There’s an increasing number of African migrants travelling to Latin America and seeking to move north to the United States, according to a 2021 report from the Migration Policy Institute.
One US tech organization is trying to address this issue. Malik Khan is passionate about creating jobs, developing skills, and running innovation programmes for young people in The Gambia, so that less of them choose to take the “back way.” He is the CEO of PointClick Technologies, a global cloud transformation company headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, which also invests in social impact work in the country through their Innovate Gambia project. Malik is a Gambian, who studied and grew up in the United States.
Malik explains: “We believe in bringing opportunity to young people in The Gambia, so they don’t have to look for it elsewhere. It’s devastating that so many choose to take the back way and risk their lives. At PointClick, we have invested over $1.8 million into Gambia so that this isn’t even something our young people consider.”
PointClick team member, 24-year-old Saidou Rex Jonga, says:
“Irregular migration had crossed my mind a few times before. I don't think I would have ever gone through with it, but I had thought about it, until I came across PointClick. I had the opportunity to intern for the company three years ago and I saw that it was an environment where I can grow as an individual and career-wise. Now I'm a Microsoft Certified Engineer and a Cloud Solutions Specialist, thanks to PointClick. I’m still with the company to this day and comfortably living in The Gambia.”
In the long term, PointClick also wants to create a talent pool of young Gambians, trained in tech, who can be available to businesses around the world that are looking to outsource some of their remote working positions. As English is the official language of the country, and it’s on the GMT time zone, this is an attractive option.
PointClick’s social responsibility programs don’t stop there. Malik has recently recycled his old cloud servers that were in use in the US and sent them to The Gambia: “We’ve just repurposed our data center equipment, worth $500,000, from the States and will be using it to upskill Gambians. Sustainability and people are both important to us. This way, we’re not letting all that metal go to waste, and we’re using it to try and create employment and opportunities for young Gambians.”
PointClick celebrated its 15-year anniversary last year, but the firm hopes to leave a legacy long beyond this time, where young Gambians want to stay in their country rather than risk their lives to flee to Europe.
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Editors notes
About PointClick Technologies:
PointClick Technologies facilitates success in the cloud, and has been providing enterprise-level Cloud, Hosting & IT infrastructure solutions and managed IT services to our business clients for fifteen years. This includes a comprehensive security suite, disaster recovery, managed storage, and backup solutions. The company is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina in the United States, with offices in Spain, India, and The Gambia. We have built a reputation for delivering high-touch services to major brands in the US and global companies in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
PointClick celebrated its 15-year-anniversary in 2022. You can find out more about this milestone here:
https://15years.pointclick.net
About Innovate Gambia:
Innovate Gambia was created to foster and elevate economic development in The Gambia. It started with the notion of rebuilding and revitalizing the country; by increasing innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, and workforce development. It is fully funded by PointClick Technologies.
Since 2017, Innovate Gambia has:
- Housed 80+ Entrepreneurs and StartUps at our Innovation Hub
- Enabled 3500 hours of meetings to be conducted in our meeting rooms
- Invested in four StartUps
- Coached and mentored 300+ Entrepreneurs
- Organized and hosted 70+ Events
- Delivered 1200+ hours of Training
