The Central Bank of The Gambia has given commercial banks until December 31, 2026, to restructure positions held by non-Gambian employees and replace affected workers with suitably qualified Gambian nationals.
Business Insider Africa reported that the directive, issued in a circular dated September 16 and signed by the CBG’s Second Deputy Governor, Dr Paul T. Mendy, applies across the country’s banking industry. It followed an August 27 meeting with bank managing directors and a review of employment practices in the sector.
The regulator said its review identified a relatively high number of non-Gambian workers employed outside positions formally recognised under expatriate arrangements. It said the practice was contrary to provisions of The Gambia’s Labour Act 2023 and inconsistent with Guideline 9 governing expatriate employment in the banking sector.
Among the institutions covered are Access Bank Gambia, FirstBank Gambia, Guaranty Trust Bank Gambia, Zenith Bank Gambia, Ecobank Gambia, Bloom Bank Africa, Vista Bank, Trust Bank, BSIC, AGIB Bank and Mega Bank. Four of the 11 licensed banks are subsidiaries of Nigerian banking groups.
Rather than requiring an immediate overhaul of staffing structures, the CBG has directed banks to carry out the changes progressively. The lenders are expected to identify qualified Gambians for affected positions and arrange the transfer of skills and institutional knowledge while keeping banking services running without disruption.
The directive comes against the backdrop of The Gambia’s existing legal framework on expatriate employment, which places emphasis on developing local capacity where the necessary skills are available domestically. The Labour Act also provides for Gambian understudies for approved expatriate positions to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and skills.
The CBG has not disclosed the number of employees that could be affected by the exercise. The directive is also not framed as a blanket prohibition on foreign workers, but as a requirement for banks to align their staffing arrangements with existing labour and expatriate employment rules.
