Business
Companies Act 2013 with single-member companies and a Registrar General
The Companies Act 2013 modernised Gambian company law, permitting single-member private companies, codifying directors' duties, and requiring annual returns. Registration is with the Registrar General's Chambers, and the Single Window Business Registration Act 2013 streamlined incorporation.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Registrar General's Chambers registers; High Court hears company and insolvency matters.
Governing law
- Companies Act, 2013 — Single-member companies; codified directors' duties.
- Single Window Business Registration Act, 2013 — Consolidated incorporation, tax and social security registration.
- GIEPA Act, 2015 — Investment and export promotion incentives.
In practice
The Companies Act 2013 replaced the 1955 Companies Act. It provides for private and public companies, allows a private company to be formed and run by a single member and director, codifies directors' fiduciary and care duties, requires proper accounting records and annual returns, and provides remedies for oppression and a derivative action. The Single Window Business Registration Act 2013 consolidated registration steps across the Registrar General, the Gambia Revenue Authority and social security into one process, a targeted response to prior ease-of-doing-business rankings. Insolvency remains substantially liquidation-based under the Companies Act with limited rescue mechanisms. The Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency administers investment incentives under the GIEPA Act 2015, and the Business Enterprise Registration Act covers sole traders and partnerships.