The Gambia Human Capital Review - Executive Summary - Overview of human capital across the life cycle

Jul 19, 2026

The Gambia Human Capital Review analyzes the state of human capital across the life cycle, from before birth and early childhood to youth, working age, and old age. It reviews education, health, and social protection sector performance, then deep-dives into youth education, TVET, employment, and migration, identifying key constraints such as financing, coordination and administrative inefficiencies, accessibility, and quality. The review also proposes main actions to build, utilize, and protect human capital, supported by data, index work, and annexed legal and policy assessments.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages93

Reading Time3 h 54 min

Executive Summary

The state of The Gambia’s human capital

Building human capital: education, health, and social protection sectors

Deep dive: youth education, TVET, employment and migration

Main constraints to human capital development

Main actions for human capital across the life cycle

References

Annexes

Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized The Gambia Human Capital Review Contents: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 A. The state of The Gambia’s human capital 10 The Human Capital Index 10 Human Capital over the life cycle in The Gambia 11 Before birth 13 Early childhood and childhood 13 Youth 18 Working Age 21 Old age 23 B. Building human capital: overview of the education, health, and social protection sectors 25 Overview of the education sector 26 Overview of the health sector 26 Overview of the social protection sector 27 C. Deep dive: youth education, TVET, employment and migration 29 Youth value education, but are concerned about quality and accessibility 30 Technical and vocational education are seen as useful, but often out of reach 32 For lack of a thriving business environment, jobs tend to be in the informal sector 35 Young Gambians are still keen to migrate 38 Youth want to be heard, and see few positive changes 40 D. Main constraints to human capital development 41 Financing 41 Coordination and inefficiencies in administration 44 Accessibility 46 Quality 49 Using data effectively to improve human capital outcomes 50 E. Main actions for human capital across the life cycle 53 Build 55 Utilize 57 Protect 60 iii iii THE GAMBIA Human Capital Review References 64 Annex 1: Description of surveys and additional tables and figures 68 Annex 2: A Review of the Legal Barriers to the Empowerment of Women and Youth 75 Annex 3: A Review of Policies and Programs Pertaining to Human Capital in The Gambia 78 Annex 4: The Utilization-Adjusted Human Capital Index 83 Annex 5: Locations of the youth surveyed in the qualitative assessment 84 List of Figures: Figure 1: Summary of the review’s approach 6 Figure 2: Human capital strongly correlates with GDP per capita 7 Figure 3: GDP per capita and poverty rates in The Gambia 8 Figure 4: Estimated absolute poverty rate and number of poor by district 8 Figure 5: The Human Capital Index 10 Figure 6: An illustration of the life-cycle approach to human capital 13 Figure 7: Childhood health outcomes in The Gambia and comparator countries 14 Figure 8: Change in child mortality by LGA 14 Figure 9: Percentage of children ages 12–23 months who received all basic vaccinations 16 Figure 10: Gross ECD enrollment rate 15 Figure 11: Share of public and private ECD centers 15 Figure 12: NAT Grade 8: Average score in English and Math (out of 100), public schools, 2021 16 Figure 13: Employment during COVID-19 17 Figure 14: Overweight and obesity rates among young women 18 Figure 15: Gender gap in school attendance: Share of individuals currently attending school by age cohort 19 Figure 16: Change in the main causes of death between 2009 and 2019 20 Figure 17: Labor market outcomes for males and females 22 Figure 18: Employment type by age and education. 23 Figure 19: Average earnings in US$ by education category and country 23 Figure 20: Population pyramid for 2022 24 Figure 21: Life expectancy at birth (both sexes) 24 Figure 22: Social Assistance Support implemented by the government and partners 28 Figure 23: Youth as a pivotal age for realizing human capital endowments 29 Figure 24: Share of age group that has ever attended TVET 32 Figure 25: Transition into employment 35 iv THE GAMBIA Human Capital Review Figure 26: Wages and job quality across major economic sectors (wage-employed, ages 15–35) 36 Figure 27: Unit cost of education, by education level, 2020, in GMD Dalasi 42 Figure 28: Household and government contribution to education unit cost, 2020 42 Figure 29: Government expenditure on education, total (% of government expenditure) 42 Figure 30: Budget allocation by level of education 42 Figure 31: General government expenditures on hea

FAQs

What stages of the life cycle does the review cover for The Gambia’s human capital?

It covers before birth, early childhood and childhood, youth, working age, and old age.

Which sectors are reviewed to explain how human capital is built?

The review provides an overview of the education sector, the health sector, and the social protection sector.

What are the main constraints identified for human capital development?

Key constraints include financing, coordination and inefficiencies in administration, accessibility, quality issues, and the need to use data effectively to improve outcomes.

Jul 19, 2026

Upload by Lucas Martin