The Republic of the Gambia is a narrow strip of land, about 11,295 sq kms on the west coast of Africa. Its closest neighbor is the sister Republic of Senegal and to the west it borders the Atlantic Ocean. Flying time from Banjul international airport to JFK airport New York is only 7 hours, Gatwick or Heathrow 6 hours, Paris Charles de Gaulle 5 hours, Bruxelles 6 hours, Germany 6 hours, Moscow 8 hours.
Following a recent agreement that was signed between the US authorities and the Department of State for Works and Communications of The Gambia, two international airlines -- Ghana Airways and Air Afrique -- have so far established direct flights Banjul-New York-Banjul. This makes The Gambia the closest English speaking West African country to Europe and the US. The flight time to the Canary Islands in Spain is only two hours, coupled with the fact that The Gambia being the leading tourist center in the whole of West Africa, qualifies it to become an excellent business location.
The Gambia attained independence from British rule on Feb 18, 1965 and after a referendum it became Republic of The Gambia in 1970.
The Gambia derives its name from The River Gambia, which is navigable all through the year, running from the Atlantic Ocean to the end of the country. This advantage provides The Gambia the opportunity to engage on re-export trade -- with all neighboring countries by sea, air and route.
The beautiful and untainted sandy banks of this river and the Atlantic Coast line are rich in marine and bird life, offering unique opportunities to visitors seeking explorable moments of leisure and recreation or a conducive atmosphere for impromptu meetings with potential Gambian partners.
With little known mineral wealth, The Gambia has natural resources -- its forest, sea resources, the elminite, koaline and laterite stones in the hilly zone of central river division and the upper river division. Seventy percent of the sea resources are still virgin, thus yet to be fully exploited. The Gambian coastline has one of the best lobsters and tuna fish in the world.
Government
The Republic of Gambia is under a democratic rule, a government composing of the judiciary, legislature and the executive headed by the president of The Republic. The Gambia is led by an elected government and elections are held every five years for members of the executive and the national assembly.
Economy
The Gambia's economy is market-oriented, strongly committed to increasing private sector participation in the allocation, production and distribution of resources. It maintains prudent monetary and fiscal policies geared towards supporting a sound macro economic environment for improved flow of foreign direct investment in the country.
The Gambian economy has been characterized by economic reforms, recovery and structural adjustment. It has also maintained a flexible floating exchange rate regime as a means to ensuring regular currency at market determined convertible rates. The gain of this and other demand and supply side interventions have been widely acclaimed by many including in the Bretton Woods Institution as rewarding to The Gambia's economy.
The reforms called for unrestricted capital and profits repatriation by companies that have investment in The Gambia. The country offers numerous advantages for investors such as political stability, liberal trade policy and lower rates of tariffs, faster and lower-cost business transactions carried out with minimum of bureaucratic procedure.
Another factor is the low labor cost in an environment of stabilized inflation. It also has excellent communication facilities which are second to none in Africa (the port of Banjul is the gateway to West Africa). A new modern airport terminal that gives a fresh outlook to the country's air transport service, (apart from the Seychelle Islands, Banjul international airport is one of the best NASA bases) in that region. It also features a highly reliable and efficient seaport modernized with bonded warehousing facilities with a tax free zone. For investors, there are provisions provided in the special free economic zone areas.
Investment
The Gambia provides vast investment opportunities for all potential investors. Although foreign as well as local investment is welcomed in virtually all sectors, government attaches the highest priority to investment in the following areas; where investors automatically qualify for special benefits as provided for by the investment policy currently in place. These industries include agriculture, tourism, fisheries, energy, manufacturing, skills development, mineral exploration and exploitation, forestry and selected service.
Investment in these areas is accorded very special fiscal and non-fiscal incentives.
These include security of title of investments, exemption from customs duties on a wide range of capital equipment, including machinery, appliances, furniture, semi-finished products, parts and other raw materials, exemption of sales tax on imports, exemption from turn over tax, and a special scheme of accelerated depreciation administered under the tax laws of The Republic of The Gambia.
Seaport of Banjul
Over the years the freeport has been internationally recognized as one of the safest and most efficient ports in West Africa. Banjul offers a prompt, reliable and value-for-money service.
The port has well-developed and modern facilities capable of handling any type of cargo. This infrastructure combined with a competitive tariff, comprehensive use of information technology and a dedicated, professional workforce ensures that customers are always provided with service of high quality.
Banjul free port is strategically located close to major shipping routes. The port is regularly served by numerous well-established conference and independent lines.
A long established close cooperation between the port and customs, immigration health and shipping agencies enables its service to be consistently in a smooth and efficient manner.
Banjul port is unmatched in Africa in its simplified trades documentation procedures. Ports and customs services operate in a fully computerized environment. The port has a deep sheltered anchorage with no record of piracy and renowned for its safety.
Export Zone
The Gambia is now poised to offer a world class export processing zone facility in a 13 plus hectare site immediately adjacent to the port area. Companies locating in the free zone will be offered an attractive package of incentive. These include: a tax free business environment, exemption from customs duties, freedom from foreign exchange control, unrestricted repatriation of capital, profits and dividends, a range of rights, concessions and franchises, no ownership restriction.
Investors' firms can expect a well run facility which will offer leasable standard factory buildings, leasable office buildings with open floor, and provision for flexible partitioning, access to reliable power, an additional 6 megawatt generator was commissioned on July 20, 2001 -- a 24 hour electricity supply is now guaranteed, affordable telecommunication facilities, recently the GSM (global service of mobile telecommunication) has been introduced plus internet facilities all over as well as responsive property managers.
For further inquiries regarding business-related opportunities in Gambia, contact Ambassador Essa Bokarr Sey of the Republic of The Gambia at email:essa101@yahoo.com, tel (02) 2875-3911.
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