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Gambia

The Gambia, the smallest country in mainland Africa, has an estimated population of 2.1 million. Its small economy largely relies on remittances, tourism and agriculture. In 2019, the country experienced a robust economic growth, at around 6%. This growth did not resulted in substantial employment gains and was impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Since 2020, the economy started to recover, led by tourism, construction, and distributive trade services (1). 

The Gambia has a large informal sector, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the total employment (2). Youth continue to be highly affected by the lack of opportunities, with the share of youth aged 15-24 not in employment, education or training (NEET), estimated at 35.7% in 2020 (3). The lack of diversification of the economy and the low productivity led by low public and private investments in infrastructure and human capital development are the main factors contributing to low growth and unemployment (4).  

The Gambia’s workforce is, on average, poorly skilled. The literacy rate for adults is low, at only 51 per cent in 2015, and the gender gap in literacy is sizeable, with 48.1 per cent of women versus 63.4 per cent of men being literate in 2018. While educational enrolment has increased over the past decade, improving the quality of education remains a challenge. Youth in the country are under-skilled and at a higher risk of unemployment. There is a critical shortage of skills, particularly in the tourism sector, which contributes to about 16 percent of the GDP (5). There is a need for stronger links between the TVET offer and the current and future labour market needs, especially in response to technological changes, and the emergence of global markets with opportunities for globalization and regional integration.  

The Gambian TVET system faces many challenges, among others the uneven provision of TVET opportunities across regions, the low quality of TVET provision, mismatches between skills supply and labour market demand, the lack of measures to support TVET graduates in their transition into the labour market, the absence of mechanisms to provide sufficient information on skills gaps and skills needs, the low of involvement of the private sector and finally the lack of funding.  The Gambian Government envisages a TVET system that is responsive to labour market needs, inclusive, based on clearly defined quality standards and backed up by quality assurance mechanisms and empirical evidence. Since 2002, when the first TVET legislation was launched, the country has taken important steps towards this goal, including the adoption of a National TVET policy in 2021, which is expected contribute to better decent work opportunities for all.

(1) – World Bank, Country Profile, The Gambia: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/gambia/overview#1
(2) – ILOSAT, Statistics on the informal economy: https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/informality/ 
(3) – ILOSTAT, Youth labour statistics: https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/youth/ 
(4) – UN, The Gambia, Voluntary National Review 2020:  https://sdgs.un.org/documents/vnr-2020-gambia-report-english-26039
(5) – UNDP, Policy Brief, the tourism sector in the context of covid-19 outbreak in the Gambia, 2020: https://bit.ly/3wVIJNW 


Publication
Assessing early learning (West and Central Africa)
Publication Date: 01 Nov 2021
Source: International organizations-UNICEF
Since 2014, UNICEF in Western and Central Africa began providing technical and financial support to develop early learning assessment tools to help countries assess children’s cognitive, language, socio-emotional and motor skills that are critical for a smooth transition to primary school. As of October 2021, a total of 13 countries – Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, São Tome & Principe, Senegal and Togo – have conducted early learning assessments.
Document
The Gambia youth employment and skills development study
Publication Date: 02 Apr 2015
Source: International organizations
Despite substantial improvements in access to basic education and steady economic growth, The Gambia still faces considerable challenges in respect to reducing poverty. As the result of its narrow economic base and its reduced internal market, the country will continue to rely heavily on the productivity of its citizens to reverse the cycle that keeps families in poverty generation after generation. Poverty reduction is a complex equation that involves improvements in job creation, especially for high-skilled and productive employment, as well as improvements in human capital levels to ensure that citizens are able to take advantage of employment opportunities. Currently, however, low human capital levels greatly limit the productivity and employment outcomes of the population, as evidenced by the fact that a majority continues to work in subsistence agriculture, especially in rural areas. The Second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper II (2007-2015, PRSP II) recognizes the need to focus on improving youth employment outcomes. It states that 'The Gambia has a problem of youth unemployment especially those that have limited skills. Consequently, a big proportion of the youth are part of the people categorized as poor in The Gambia. PRSP II will focus on the problem of youth unemployment through various approaches including supporting private sector investment that creates jobs for the youth, increasing access to productive assets particularly credit by the youth, and retooling and training the youth to increase their employability.'
Document
Immigrants, skills and wages in the Gambian labor market
Publication Date: 20 Mar 2015
Source: Other sources
Using data from the Household Poverty Surveys in 2003 and 2010, this paper analyzes characteristics of immigrants in The Gambian labor market. The analysis indicates that immigrants are relatively young, low-skilled (though with skill levels comparable to Gambians) and mainly come from neighboring West African countries. While immigrants on average earn more than Gambians, this labor market advantage varies significantly depending on workers’ skill level. For instance, unskilled immigrants have a wage advantage but such an advantage does not exist among the skilled immigrants. Given that The Gambia is a country with high skilled emigration rates, these and other findings in this paper have important policy implications.
Document
Youth employment and skills development in the Gambia
Publication Date: 09 Jan 2013
Source: International organizations
Despite substantial improvements in access to basic education and steady economic growth, The Gambia still faces considerable challenges in respect to reducing poverty. As the result of its narrow economic base and its reduced internal market, the country will continue to rely on the productivity of its citizens to reverse the cycle that keeps families in poverty generation after generation. Poverty reduction is a complex equation that involves improvements in job creation, especially for high-skilled and productive employment, as well as improvements in human capital levels to ensure that citizens are able to take advantage of employment opportunities. Currently, however, low human capital levels greatly limit the productivity and employment outcomes of the population, as evidenced by the fact that a majority continues to work in subsistence agriculture, especially in rural areas. Nearly 60 percent of the poor in The Gambia are under the age of 20 years. Youth face significant challenges with respect to employment outcomes, such as a very difficult transition from school to work and very low levels of education and training. In terms of education levels, a significant proportion of young people (especially in rural areas) leave school early, in part due to what are perceived to be low returns on education. Many of those who do receive high quality education and training choose to emigrate. Overall, young workers are employed in jobs of low quality and high levels of informality. The study assessed the impact of the following factors on youth's time use: education level, gender, local labor supply and demand, and place of residence. From the analysis, it was noted that the probability of being employed decreases as the level of human capital increases. In fact, uneducated youth display the highest probability of being employed
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