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
The Gambia's former leader Yahya Jammeh is to go into exile in Equatorial Guinea, following a stop in Guinea, after stepping down from office, according to ECOWAS president Marcel de Souza.
The West African regional bloc, which sent 7,000 troops into the Gambia on Thursday, has halted military operations but some troops are to remain in the country, de Souza said.
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.