Yahya Jammeh has agreed to cede power to new leader, he said in an address on state TV.
He steps down after 22 years in power.
Jammeh's successor Adama Barrow told a press conference, 'the rule of fear is over' as he prepares to return to The Gambian after being sworn in as president in neighbouring Senegal on Thursday and
Gambia's former leader Yahya Jammeh has asked the West African bloc ECOWAS to extend a midday deadline by four hours for him to leave power or be forced out.
Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Guinea's President Alpha Conde arrived in the Gambian capital Banjul on Friday for last-ditch talks with Jammeh.
It is still not clear whether Jammeh intends to step down even by the new deadline which would be 4pm.
The main opposition has said it is unhappy at the offer of asylum for Yahya Jammeh who had refused to step down as president.
Regional troops have secured the presidential palace in the Gambia's capital but there are fears the former leader has raided state coffers.
It ends a political standoff that briefly saw Yahya Jammeh and Adama Barrow claiming leadership of this tiny West African nation.