The Gambian government has announced it is withdrawing from the Commonwealth, saying it will "never be a member of any neo-colonial institution."

"The general public is hereby informed that the government of the Gambia has left the Commonwealth of Nations with immediate effect," the government said in a statement issued on Wednesday, AFP reported.

"(The) government has withdrawn its membership of the British Commonwealth and decided that Gambia will never be a member of any neo-colonial institution and will never be a party to any institution that represents an extension of colonialism," the statement added.


It was not immediately clear what triggered the decision.

The Commonwealth, a collection of 54 nations made up largely of former British colonies, was formally established by the London Declaration in 1949.

Gambia, a country in West Africa, is a tiny sliver of land wedged into Senegal.