The Effects of Illegal Migration on The Gambia’s Economy
ANALYSISINSIGHTS
Illegal migration persists in The Gambia because of the economic and social challenges people face every day.
We'll start with background on the issue, then examine the positive economic impacts that often get overlooked. After that, we'll confront the darker side: the loss of lives and its ripple effects on our workforce and productivity. Finally, I'll offer some practical recommendations.
The Scope of the Problem
The concept of illegal migration among Gambians is well known here. Everyone talks about it. But surprisingly few people understand its true economic impact.
The numbers are staggering. According to official figures, over 35,000 Gambians have arrived in Europe through irregular means. That's a significant portion of our population taking dangerous journeys in search of better opportunities.
What gets missed in these discussions is how this exodus affects The Gambia's economy from multiple angles. We're not just losing valuable lives; we're watching entire sectors suffer, from our workforce to agricultural productivity.
The Upside: Remittances and Development
Here's what people don't always acknowledge: illegal migration does have economic benefits for The Gambia.
Migrants who successfully settle in Europe regularly send remittances, capital or goods that sustain households and stimulate local markets. These remittances contribute substantially to our GDP growth. The money gets used for school fees, feeding families, building houses, and starting businesses. This flow of capital meaningfully reduces poverty rates and decreases dependence on the central government.
There's more to it than just individual families benefiting. Migrants often form associations abroad, and through these groups, they fund development projects back home. I'm talking about real infrastructure: electrifying communities, building roads, opening schools, and providing clean water to villages that lack it. These collective efforts contribute significantly to the country's economic development.
The Cost: Lives Lost and Productivity Destroyed
But we can't talk about benefits without confronting the brutal reality of what we're losing.
Ebrima Drammeh, a Gambian migrant rights activist with the Migrant Rescue Watch Association, told me his organization recorded the names of ninety-five Gambian migrants who died on the "back way" journey to Europe in 2022 alone. He suspects the real number is even higher.
Think about what this means. We're losing people, mostly between ages 20 and 30, the most productive years of anyone's life. This is when people should be getting educated, developing skills, building careers, and starting families. Instead, they're dying in the Mediterranean or the Sahara.
The workforce impact is devastating.
Groundnut is our principal export crop, making up 66 percent of agricultural export earnings. Production has been dropping, and migration is a major reason why.
I spoke with Mr. Saidy Bah, a farmer in Memmeh village in the North Bank. His words stayed with me: "Most of our sons and able workers are buried in the ocean."
When I asked how this affected groundnut production in his village, he didn't sugarcoat it. "All of our sons are dead. Most of us have given up farming now." Then he added something that hit harder: "We sold all our farming tools to fund our children's journey. Even if we wanted to keep farming, we have no one to help us. Our age won't allow us to continue."
That's the reality in village after village. The people who should be working the land are gone. The elders who remain lack the physical capacity to maintain production. The tools have been sold to fund journeys that ended in tragedy.
What Needs to Happen
The government must invest in youth if we want a better Gambia tomorrow. Young people need to feel empowered, valued, and hopeful about their future here. Otherwise, they'll keep risking their lives to leave.
Here's what concrete investment looks like:
Industrialization in fisheries. The Gambia has abundant fish resources. If the government built sardine factories and processing facilities, it would create immediate employment for youth involved in fishing. Right now, we're exporting raw fish when we could be creating value-added products and jobs.
Fruit processing infrastructure. During mango and orange season, fruit is everywhere, and much of it rots because there's no way to preserve or process it. Build fruit juice factories and you solve multiple problems at once: reducing waste, creating products for domestic and export markets, and generating jobs across skill levels.
These factories would employ skilled workers, non-skilled laborers, and educated professionals across multiple departments, including production, marketing, management, and logistics. It's not just about creating jobs. It's about building an economy where young people see a future worth staying for.
The Hard Truth
We're at a crossroads. Every young person who dies trying to reach Europe is a loss we can't recover. Every farmer who gives up because there's no one left to work the fields is productivity we'll never get back.
Yes, remittances help. Yes, diaspora contributions matter. But they don't offset what we're losing: human capital, agricultural capacity, and an entire generation's potential.
If we don't create real economic opportunities here, the migration will continue. And The Gambia will keep bleeding its future into the desert and the sea.