- A majority (55%) of Gambians say the government should limit the cross-border movement of people and goods, while 44% think West Africans should be able to move freely across international borders in order to trade or work in other countries.
- o Three in four respondents (75%) say that, in practice, crossing international borders is “difficult” or “very difficult.”
- o Fewer than one in five Gambians (17%) say they have heard of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
- Gambians are divided on the economic impact of foreign workers: 44% see immigrants as good for the economy, while 45% disagree.
- Strong majorities say they would like or wouldn't mind living next door to foreign workers or immigrants (85%) and refugees (79%).
- Even so, more than seven in 10 Gambians (72%) say the government should reduce the number of foreign job seekers it allows to enter the country (62%) or eliminate such immigration altogether (10%).
- o A majority (62%) also favour reducing (51%) or eliminating (11%) entry by refugees.
- More than two-thirds (68%) of Gambians say they have considered leaving the country.
- o Interest in emigration is particularly high among youth (75%), the highly educated (81%), economically well-off citizens (75%), the unemployed looking for work (80%), and those holding part-time jobs (83%).
- o The most common reasons cited for potential emigration are to escape economic hardship (44%) and to find better work opportunities (41%).
- o The most popular destinations among potential emigrants are North America (44%) and Europe (41%).
Migration is deeply embedded in Gambian life. As the smallest country in mainland Africa, almost entirely surrounded by Senegal, The Gambia has one of the highest emigration rates on the continent (Integral Human Development, 2022). Its diaspora, concentrated in Europe (particularly Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany), sustains a substantial share of Gambian households through remittances. Personal remittances to The Gambia represented 31.5% of gross domestic product in 2024, among the highest shares recorded anywhere in Africa, underlining the centrality of migration to national economic life (Ceesay, 2025; World Bank, 2024).
In recent years, “backway” migration – referring to irregular journeys overland through the Sahara and across the Mediterranean – has become both a national tragedy and a subject of urgent public debate (Bah, Batista, Gubert, & McKenzie, 2023; International Organization for Migration, 2024). Young Gambians, many of them men with limited access to employment, have risked their lives on these perilous routes in search of economic opportunities abroad (Bah et al., 2023; International Organization for Migration Development Fund, 2025). The human cost has been devastating, reinforcing calls for stronger domestic job creation and better-managed migration pathways to reduce the pressures driving irregular movement.
As a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), The Gambia is party to regional frameworks designed to facilitate the free movement of people across West Africa for work and trade. These include the ECOWAS Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Establishment and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which The Gambia ratified in 2019 (Economic Community of West African States, 1979; Dogbevi, 2019). Notably, The Gambia is one of only four African countries (Benin, Rwanda, and Seychelles are the others) that offer visa-free entry to all Africans (Ighobor, 2024). Although these frameworks are intended to promote mobility, practical barriers, including administrative hurdles and documentation requirements at border crossings, continue to constrain movement in reality (Zanker, Arhin-Sam, Jegen, & Bisong, 2020). As the government seeks to leverage its diaspora for national development while also managing domestic economic pressures, understanding how citizens perceive migration is essential for evidence-based policy making.
Findings from Afrobarometer’s Round 10 survey (2024) reveal mixed views on crossing borders and immigration. A majority of Gambians want their government to restrict cross-border movement, which most say is already difficult in practice. Most Gambians express tolerant personal attitudes toward immigrant workers and refugees, yet strong majorities favour limiting their entry into the country.
More than two-thirds of Gambians say they have considered emigrating, mostly to escape economic hardship and to find better job opportunities.
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