The government has announced a major restructuring of Gamtel and Gamcel, The Gambia’s national telecom operators, that will see more than 600 staff exit the companies through voluntary redundancy and early retirement.
Addressing lawmakers, the Minister of Digital Economy revealed that only 350 out of the current 1,007 employees will be retained as part of the privatisation deal, which is being carried out in collaboration with an international development partner.
The minister explained that funds have already been secured to compensate the affected staff. While the country’s labour law requires a basic severance of six months’ salary, the government has opted for a more generous package. Some employees are expected to receive payouts ranging from D400,000 to as much as D1.8 million, far exceeding the D40,000–D50,000 they would typically be entitled to.
So far, 487 workers have voluntarily agreed to retire, and a total of D210 million has already been disbursed to them. Despite stepping down, these employees will continue working for another six months before officially leaving.
To cushion the transition, the minister mentioned plans to support displaced workers—particularly cleaners, security personnel, and customer service staff—by helping them form companies that can continue to offer their services under private contracts with Gamtel and Gamcel.
Looking ahead, the government plans to partner with a local company to upgrade Gamcel’s outdated infrastructure. Although eight bids were received from both local and international firms, the decision has been made to move forward with local investors. The selected companies have been asked to submit detailed proposals, but their names have not yet been disclosed.
According to the minister, the main challenge facing Gamcel is not its workforce but its outdated technology. He stressed the need for infrastructure upgrades to keep pace with modern standards. “You can’t expect to compete using 2G when the rest of the world is on 4G and 5G,” he said, pointing to the urgency of modernising the network.
The government expects the transformation of Gamtel and Gamcel to take shape in the coming months, with the aim of turning them into more efficient and competitive enterprises under private management.
