The Federal Republic of Germany has had diplomatic relations with the Gambia since it gained independence in 1965. Relations cooled off between 1994 and 2016 during the autocratic regime of President Yahya Jammeh. Since President Jammeh’s election defeat in December 2016 and the ensuing return to democracy under President Adama Barrow, however, relations between the two countries have been intensifying once again. In May 2023, Germany opened an Embassy in Banjul, the capital of the Gambia.

Germany is supporting the Gambia in its efforts to develop and consolidate democratic institutions and to reform the security sector, especially through basic and further training for the police, among other things in how to deal with gender-based violence, de-escalation and conflict management.

Trade between Germany and the Gambia is at a low level. Alongside tourism, remittances from the around 16,000 Gambians living in Germany are a key source of foreign currency for the country, which mainly exports agricultural produce (fish, peanuts, cashew nuts, etc.).