Unexploited manufacturing opportunities in The Gambia

The Gambia Investment Promotion & Free Zones Agency (GIPFZA) is offering investors the opportunity to invest in The Gambia’s manufacturing sector.

The West African country’s manufacturing sector continues to be under-exploited with limited concentration of interconnected manufacturing companies. The sector consists mainly of medium-sized enterprises located primarily in the urban areas. The sector’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) continues to be low thus forming the basis of increased government efforts to expand industrial production and development.

Opportunities exist to establish light industries in The Gambia.

Opportunities exist to establish light industries in The Gambia.

Investment opportunities

A number of specific investment opportunities in the manufacturing sector have been identified:

Horticulture Opportunities exist in the processing of fruits and vegetables for export as well as the domestic market. Large quantities of fresh produce are wasted during peak seasons, mainly due to inadequate storage facilities and limited value adding activities. However, with the setting-up of the Free Export Processing Zone, and The Gambia’s strategic location as a short haul to major markets in the sub-region, the horticulture sector offers good export opportunities.

Fisheries The processing of The Gambia’s abundant fisheries resources – jumbo shrimps, lobsters, oysters, and smoked/dry fish – offers good investment potential. These can be purchased from Gambian fishing companies with adequate storage facilities and reliable supply sources. Potential investors can also invest in the whole value chain from commercial fish catching to processing, packaging and final marketing.

Light manufacturing for the export market using the Free Export Processing Zone There exist investment opportunities in light pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, packing materials, ceramic tiles and sanitary wares, garments, mineral water and leather shoes. Investment opportunities also exist in bulk importation and reprocessing and repackaging.

Comparative advantage

Key among GIPFZA’s promotional strategies is value addition through niche manufacturing in areas where The Gambia has comparative advantages over its immediate competitors in the sub-region. This strategy focuses on the selective clustering of a number of manufacturing operations in sectors such as agriculture, food processing, fisheries and horticulture. These sectors have:

  • Large accessible international markets particularly within the European Union
  • Considerable labour intensive employment creation potential
  • Increased foreign exchange generation potential
  • Capacity for rapid expansion of the sectors with minimal imported resources
  • Under-utilised renewable resources with potential for sustainable development
  • Successful operations already in The Gambia (i.e. strategy building on reality) and existing domestic and foreign private sector investment
  • Potential for creating added value in an interdependent synergistic manner

Contact details

Investors interested to invest in The Gambia’s manufacturing sector should contact GIPFZA at [email protected]