World Bank2013-03-272013-03-272009-06https://hdl.handle.net/10986/12983The situation in The Gambia is a good example of the many challenges small states have to deal with. The country is faced with institutional capacity constraints and due to a narrow resource base and a small domestic market, its production base and exports show little diversification. Like other small states, the country tends to rely heavily on external trade and foreign investment to overcome its scale and resource limitation, increasing its vulnerability to external shocks. The objective of this report is to analyze the investment climate of The Gambia in its every dimension. It is the first time such a comprehensive report is prepared by the World Bank about the investment climate in The Gambia. Recent World Bank reports only look at specific areas of the investment climate and do not provide a global assessment of investment climate issues based on firm level data as does this report. A final and brief chapter provides a synthesis of the report and some strategic directions aimed at improving the business environment in the country.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCELERATED DEPRECIATIONACCESS TO BANKACCESS TO FINANCEACCESS TO FINANCINGACCOUNTINGADVANCED ECONOMIESAGRICULTURAL OUTPUTAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTSAGRICULTURAL SECTORAGRICULTUREAMOUNT OF CAPITALBALANCE SHEETBANK CREDITBANK FINANCINGBANKING SECTORBANKING SYSTEMBANKSBENCHMARKBENCHMARKINGBOOK VALUEBRIBEBUSINESS ACTIVITIESBUSINESS ASSOCIATIONSBUSINESS COMMUNITYBUSINESS DEVELOPMENTBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICESBUSINESS ENTERPRISEBUSINESS PEOPLECADASTRECADASTRE SYSTEMCAPACITY CONSTRAINTSCAPITAL INVESTMENTCAPITAL STOCKCAPITAL USECOLLATERALCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITIVENESSCONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALECONSUMERSCORPORATE GOVERNANCECORRUPTIONCOST OF CAPITALCOST OF CREDITCOUNTRY COMPARISONSCREDIBILITYCREDIT MARKETCREDIT RATIONINGCREDIT SCORINGCURRENCYDEFLATORSDEMAND FOR CREDITDEREGULATIONDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDIRECT INVESTMENTDISTORTED INCENTIVESDIVERSIFICATIONDIVIDENDSDOMESTIC CREDITDOMESTIC MARKETDOMESTIC MARKETSECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTSECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC OUTLOOKECONOMIC PERFORMANCEECONOMIC REFORMECONOMIC SECTORSECONOMIC SITUATIONECONOMIC STABILITYEDUCATION LEVELSELECTRICITY SERVICESEMPLOYEEEMPLOYMENTENABLING ENVIRONMENTENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENTENTERPRISE GROWTHENTREPRENEURSENVIRONMENTALEQUIPMENTEXCHANGE RATEEXPATRIATEEXPLOITATIONEXPORT COMPETITIVENESSEXPORTEREXPORTERSEXPORTSEXTERNAL SHOCKSFINANCIAL CRISISFINANCIAL SECTORFINANCIAL SYSTEMFINANCIAL VIABILITYFIRM PERFORMANCEFISCAL BURDENFISCAL POLICYFISHFISHERIESFISHINGFIXED ASSETSFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTSFOREIGN EQUITYFOREIGN EXCHANGEFOREIGN INVESTMENTFOREIGN INVESTMENTSFOREIGN INVESTORSFORESTRYGENDERGOVERNMENT REVENUESGOVERNMENT SPENDINGGROWTH RATEHIGH INTEREST RATEHOUSINGHOUSING FINANCEHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTIMPORT COSTSINCOMEINFLATIONINFLATION RATEINFLATIONARY PRESSURESINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYINSTITUTIONAL CAPACITYINSTRUMENTINTEREST RATEINTEREST RATESINTERMEDIATE INPUTSINTERNAL FUNDSINTERNATIONAL MARKETSINVESTMENT ACTIVITIESINVESTMENT CLIMATEINVESTMENT POLICYINVESTMENT RATEJUDICIAL SYSTEMLABOR COSTSLABOR FORCELABOR MARKETLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLAND MARKETLAWSLDCSLEGAL TITLELENDING INTEREST RATESLIVING STANDARDSLOCAL BUSINESSLOCAL INVESTORSLONG TERM ASSETSLONG TERM FINANCINGM2MACROECONOMIC DATAMACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTMACROECONOMIC INSTABILITYMACROECONOMIC MANAGEMENTMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMARKET ECONOMYMATURITYMICROFINANCEMICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONSMONETARY POLICYMORTGAGEMUNICIPALITIESNPLOILOPERATING COSTSORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTUREOUTPUT LOSSOVERDRAFTOVERDRAFTSPENSIONPENSION FUNDSPOLICY ENVIRONMENTPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRIVATIZATIONPRODUCTION FUNCTIONPROFITABILITYPROMOTION OF INVESTMENTSPROPERTY OWNERSPUBLIC ASSETSREAL ESTATEREAL GDPREAL INTERESTREAL INTEREST RATESRECEIPTSRECESSIONREGISTRATION PROCESSREGISTRATION PROCESSESREGULATORY AUTHORITYREGULATORY CAPACITIESREGULATORY CONSTRAINTSREGULATORY FRAMEWORKREGULATORY SYSTEMREMITTANCESRESERVESRETAINED EARNINGSRETURNSSAVINGSSELF-EXCLUSIONSPOT MARKETSTAXTAX ADMINISTRATIONTAX BURDENTAX CODETAX COMPLIANCETAX OBLIGATIONSTAX RATESTAX REGIMETAX REVENUESTAX SYSTEMTAXATIONTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETELECOMMUNICATIONSTERMS OF TRADETOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTRADE CREDITTRADE POLICYTRADE REFORMSTRADE REGIMETRADE TAXESTRADE UNIONTRADINGTRANSPORTURBAN AREASVALUE ADDEDVALUE OF OUTPUTVULNERABLE CONSUMERSWAGESWATER SUPPLYWITHHOLDING TAXWTOWorld Bank10.1596/12983