Press Release Dated: 31st October, 2024

Banjul, The Gambia – The Gambia Government wishes to announce that it has signed a joint-Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Circular Migration with the Kingdom of Spain on August, 28th 2024, which was ratified by the National Assembly on 19th October, 2024. The objective of this MoU is to recruit workers for the Spanish Labour market on a seasonal basis.

The Gambia Government through the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment will be responsible for the pre-selection of candidates. As per Article 3 of the MoU, the pre-selection shall be under the control of the public authority, which is in response to the principles of equal opportunities, and is free of charge. Thus, the Public Employment Services Unit of the Department of Labour under the Ministry of Trade has been designated as the competent authority to coordinate and facilitate the recruitment process under the MoU.

Crucially, the pubic is hereby cautioned that no Private Recruitment Agency is licensed to recruit workers for deployment to the Kingdom of Spain. Therefore, citizens are strongly advised not to engage any private recruitment agency for the purpose of working in the Kingdom of Spain because that would be deceptive and illegal.

Additionally, the selection process and criteria for the Spanish Circular Migration Programme would be communicated to the public in due course by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment.

Regrettably, the Ministry wishes to inform the public that its letter published on Tuesday 29th October, 2024 and in wide circulation across Social Media platforms, contained some errors. The information contained in the letter was supposed to refer to the Bilateral Manpower Agreement between The Gambia Government and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Therefore, the inclusion of the MoU on the Spanish Circular Migration Programme, signed by the Government of The Gambia and the Kingdom of Spain, as well as the MoU on Manpower Agreement between The Gambia Government and The United Arab Emirates (UAE) were unintentional, and we extend our profound apologise to the public for the inconvenience this error may have caused.

The Ministry wishes to inform the Public that the recruitment of domestic workers under the Bilateral Labor Agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is in progress, and only these LICENSED Private Employment Agencies are required to carry out recruitment under the agreement:

1. Outsource Recruitment Agency

2. Mbaye Consultancy Agency

3. Gamjobs Recruitment Agency

4. Tokey Recruitment Agency

5. Cruise Ship The Gambia

The Public is further advised that there is No Cost attached to the recruitment processes and should not therefore, pay for any fees or charges for these transactions.

Ebrima G. Sankareh

The Gambia Government Spokesperson & Presidential Diaspora Adviser