Speaking in an interview with West Coast Radio, Minister Joof stated:
“In Spain, we are being told that this has not been finalized yet, we will have to see the contract first, which is the third stage after the selection. But we are told that they will be paid the minimum wage in Spain, which would be slightly below 10 euros per hour, so it depends,” he said.
Minister Joof noted that Gambians appear to be more focused on employment opportunities in Spain compared to Saudi Arabia. He attributed this preference to several factors, including the familiarity with Spain and the possibility of accessing the broader European Union.
“You know from the get-go, people were more focused on Spain, for obvious reasons of course, we know a lot about Spain from the football part of it and all these things, has been here for years, and the chance of disappearing into the EU. So Saudi Arabia has been on, in terms of the recruitment process. You talked about the 200 dollars per month which is real, for beginners. In Saudi Arabia they have their own system, where recruitment takes place, that’s where the two sides interact and agree on contracts,” he said.
He further elaborated on the Saudi Arabia recruitment process, revealing that the starting salary for inexperienced domestic workers is $200 per month, while those with experience may earn between $250 and $300 per month.
“This, remember is an offer and acceptance, it’s a real contract. The recruiters in Saudi would offer the agencies in The Gambia that if I’m bringing domestic workers to Saudi, I’m offering them 200 dollars for a start. The inexperienced ones, the experienced ones, and those who have been to the Middle East before may start with 250 or 300 per month and the fee does not include the cost of accommodation, feeding, medical care, and your ticket to Saudi and back. All these are covered in the agreement,” he said.
During his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, Minister Joof said he encountered an agency willing to pay Gambian domestic workers a higher salary.
“During my mission, I met an agency that was ready to go that high, it could even be higher than that but this is a process and Gambia is not on the ground yet, they know very little about us, and they are asking about Gambians. How are we committed to work, how sincere are we? In Saudi, there are certain principles they need to know but the point about the 200 dollars is other countries are accepting even less. I know countries from our research that started with 150 per month and if Gambia is going to start we need to start somewhere,” he said.
He acknowledged that while $200 may not be sufficient, it could serve as an entry point for Gambian workers to establish a reputation in the Saudi job market.
“I’m not saying 200$ per month is enough in my mind, I would want to see more than that, but unless we take this 200$ and create a reputation again like Malaysia. If a Malaysian steps into Saudi Arabia today, nobody offers them 200, they have gone beyond that,” he said.
The Trade Minister also disclosed that the Saudi agreement includes both unskilled and skilled labour categories.
“The Saudi agreement has two components, one is the unskilled labor, the other one is the skilled labor. They now want Gambians to go provide care in care homes. They want Gambians to go and look after babies, teach, and do some nursing work in the hospitals. This level is also commencing. That is going to start at another level,” he said. (Source Kerr Fatou)
