English 
Français 
Português 
The ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA) has officially joined the Stanford Computational Antitrust project, hosted by Stanford University’s CodeX Center, on 5 March 2026. This development highlights ERCA’s dedication to harnessing data-driven strategies and technology to bolster competition enforcement efforts.
The project, created and led by Professor Thibault Schrepel, brings together over 75 competition agencies worldwide and top academics to advance the use of computational tools in antitrust enforcement and analysis.
The Stanford Computational Antitrust project is the world’s foremost initiative at the intersection of competition law and legal informatics. It explores how automation, machine learning, and computational methods can improve the detection of anticompetitive practices, strengthen merger review, and support evidence-based policymaking. Participating agencies contribute annual reports on their implementation of computational tools, which are published in the Stanford Computational Antitrust journal, the only peer-reviewed publication dedicated to this field.
For ERCA, joining this network represents a significant step in building the Authority’s analytical and institutional capacity. Operating across the twelve Member States of ECOWAS, ERCA faces the challenge of monitoring and enforcing competition rules in a large, diverse, and rapidly evolving regional market. Access to cutting-edge computational methods and to a global community of enforcement peers will directly enhance ERCA’s ability to detect anti-competitive conduct, assess cross-border mergers, and develop robust, evidence-based competition policies.
“Joining the Stanford Computational Antitrust project is a strategic opportunity for ERCA to harness the power of data and technology in advancing competition enforcement in West Africa. By collaborating with leading global agencies, we will enhance our ability to detect and address cross-border anti-competitive practices, ensuring a fair and competitive market for the benefit of ECOWAS consumers and businesses.” Said Dr. Simeon Koffi, Executive Director, ERCA
As a member of the network, ERCA will participate in the project’s annual workshop, contribute to its annual report, and engage with the scholarly and practitioner community published in the Stanford Computational Antitrust journal. ERCA will also benefit from exposure to the latest advances in computational enforcement tools developed and shared by partner agencies across Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa.
This membership is consistent with ERCA’s broader strategy to strengthen its enforcement infrastructure, invest in data analytics capabilities, and build international partnerships that serve the interests of the ECOWAS regional market and its consumers. It follows the Authority’s recent launch of an ERCA Statistical Information System and its ongoing development of digital eFiling services.