SPECIAL INVESTMENT CERTIFICATE (SIC) INCENTIVES

The Gambia offers attractive incentive packages to investors investing in priority investment categories of the country in accordance with the Gambia Investment & Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA) Act 2010. The priority investment categories comprises of priority sectors and priority areas.

Priority Sectors

• Agriculture (All crops, diary production, poultry and meat processing, floriculture and horticulture, agro processing and agri-business and tannery)
• Fishery (aquaculture: fish and shrimps farming, industrial fishing and fish processing)
• Manufacturing (assembling and packaging, processing)
• Tourism ( Eco-tourism: national heritage,  up country tourism: motels, tourist camps, sport fishing, river sports or cruising, development of 4/5 star hotels, resorts and marinas)
• Forestry (development of private or community forest parks or agro-forestry plantations, forestry production and transformation, briquetting (saw dust)
• Energy (electricity generation, transmission and distribution, renewable energy sources, liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG))
• Mineral Exploitation (petroleum exploration as in the petroleum Act, mining of precious stones and others as defined in the Mines and Quarries Act)
• Financial Services (Investment banks, housing finance institutions)
• Other Services (health and veterinary clinics, river and air transportation and cargo services, information communication technology except GSMs).

Priority Areas

• Western Region (Foni, Kombo East and Kombo Central except the town of Brikama)
• Lower River Region
• North Bank Region
• Central River Region
• Upper River Region

BENEFITS TO SPECIAL INVESTMENT CERTIFICATE (SIC) HOLDER

A newly established investment enterprise that falls within any priority investment sector shall be granted a tax holiday in respect of its corporate or turnover tax, depreciation allowance, withholding tax on dividends-

•  in the case of a priority sector within the greater Banjul area  for a period of five years
• in the case of a priority area outside the greater Banjul area ( within other geographic regions except the town of Brikama) for a maximum period of eight years,

A newly established investment enterprise that falls within any priority investment sector shall be granted import sales tax waiver in respect of the importation of-

•  its manufacturing plant, construction material and spare parts for a period of five years from the date of signing of the investment agreement; and
• raw and intermediate inputs, for a period of five years from the date of commencement of operations.

In order for an investor to be considered for the above incentives an investment of at least two hundred and fifty thousand United States dollars (US $250 000) should be made.

EXPORT PROCESSING ZONE (EPZ) INCENTIVES

Incentives for businesses located within designated EPZ (Customs Territory) vary depending on percentage of products/manufactures that are exported.  For businesses exporting up to 80% of their products/manufactures the following incentives may apply:

• Exemption from Excise Duty and Sales Tax on goods produced or imported within the EPZ for processing and export
• Exemption from Corporate or turnover tax
• Exemption from import duty on Capital equipment
• Exemption from Withholding tax on Dividends
• Exemption from Municipality tax
• Exemption from depreciation allowance
• Duty free imports on machinery to be used in the production process

The above concessions may be valid for up to 10 years (export license duration) but conditional on evidencing of meeting 80% export requirement and observation of other basic requirements, such as, submission of audited financials, compliance with EZP statutes

For businesses exporting up to 30% of their products/manufactures but less than 80% the following incentives may apply:

• 10% levy on corporate or turnover tax
• benefit from export market intelligence
• coverage in international marketing campaigns