The Ten Investment Pillars of The Gambia
1. Good Governance: The Gambia is a champion of human rights and the rule of law. It hosts the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS).
2. Political Stability: The Gambia is regarded for its long tradition of democracy and multiparty politics; elections are held every five years.
3. Market-oriented Economy: The Gambia’s choice of economic ideology is clear. Being a liberal economy there are no ownership restrictions and no foreign exchange controls.
4. Enhanced Infrastructural Base: There has been sustained improvement in basic infrastructure, including notably, expanded road network, airport facilities, and a telecommunication system which is one of the best in Africa
5. Streamlined Investment Procedures: With the establishment of The Gambia Investment and Export Agency (GIEPA), the Government ensures a transparent, improved, speedy, and streamlined system of processing investment and business registration procedures
6. Private Sector Development: The Government continuously seeks the creation of an enabling environment to stimulate private sector development
7. Divestiture and Privatisation: In line with its commitment to private sector development, the Government pursues a firm policy to progressively relinquish much of the commercial activities previously undertaken by Government to the private sector,
8. Constitutional Protection of Investments: There is strong commitment to safeguard against nationalisation and expropriation
9. Gateway to Regional Markets: With over 250 million consumers in the ECOWAS region, and the advantage of proximity and preferential tariff access to the Western Europe market, The Gambia is an emerging gateway to markets in both West Africa, Europe, and other markets.
10. Investment Guarantee: The Gambia is a member of both the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. This guarantees against losses caused by commercial risks and constitutes a confidence-building measure regarding dispute settlement in investment.