ERCA holds its first Media Briefing

The ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA) held its first media briefing in November 2019 at its headquarters in Banjul, Republic of The Gambia. The briefing was the first of a series of media events to be organized by ERCA and provided ERCA the opportunity of enlightening the media on its operations, mandate and objectives, the scope of its jurisdiction, the future impact of its intervention in the ECOWAS regional market, its proposed relationship with the business community and national competition regulators and, most importantly, the role the media should play in competition advocacy and regulation.

In her opening remarks, the Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission, Madam Finda Koroma, appealed to the media community to partner with ERCA in the task of building support for its operations by educating the public on the benefits of a diligent application of competition principles in the State and in the region as a whole. She noted that ERCA would assist ECOWAS Member States in assessing constraints that impede the development of competitive market structures in key strategic sectors and also ensure the mainstreaming of the principles of competition policy in the region.

In her briefing, the Acting Executive Director of ERCA, Mrs. Henrietta Didigu, noted that competition policy is a necessary complement to ECOWAS’ trade, industrial, and investment policies and that in adopting competition rules, ECOWAS hopes to build a competitive community and reinvigorate its regional integration strategy. She stated that the objectives of the Competition Rules include, among other things, protecting consumers’ welfare and interests and expanding opportunities for domestic enterprises in the Member States to participate in world markets.
She also highlighted that ERCA’s mandate is to regulate competition that affects regional trade and investment flow at the regional level or to intervene if the anti-competitive conduct can only be eliminated within the framework of regional cooperation. On the other hand, States’ national competition regulators are charged with addressing anti-competitive conduct within their domestic markets. She provided an update to the media on the activities of ERCA since its inception.