Dr. Juliette TWUMASI-ANOKYE is a lawyer, and an Independent Consultant with over 25 years’ experience in the energy sector, competition law, and policy development in various sectors in the United Kingdom (UK), European Union (EU), West Africa, and Ghana. She has over fifteen (15) years’ experience in competition policy development and enforcement under both the EU and UK’s. She holds a PhD in Regulation, Competition Law, and Economics.

Mr. Antoine Sileté AGBADOME is a trade specialist. with 39 years of experience in international trade, particularly multilateral cooperation, development of trade policies at the national and regional level. He worked for many years as Benin’s Director of External Trade and Regional Advisor to the ECOWAS Commission in multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations. He has proven expertise in regional integration and issues of investment promotion and improvement of the business climate.

Mr. Sami OUATTARA is an economist and a competition and consumer protection expert. He occupied high positions in Burkina Faso, as Technical Advisor to Ministers, Director General of Economic Control and Fraud Prevention, Director General of Domestic Trade, Director General of a State-owned company, Director General of a private company, and has served as President of the National Competition Authority.

Mr. Humberto SANTOS DE BRITO works in the field of economic and business development. He was Minister for Tourism, Industry and Energy, and Minister of Trade, where he led and implemented important reforms in Cape Verde, including the transformation of the energy sector and modernization of the regulatory framework. He has a MBA in Leadership and Strategic Management.

Mr. Adama DIOMANDE is a Financial Services Administrator and served at the Ministry of Trade of Côte d’Ivoire. He was a Rapporteur at the National Competition Commission. He also served for 17 years at the UEMOA Commission, holding the positions of Head of Competition Matters, Director of Competition, and Technical Advisor.

Mr. Banding SILLAH Mr. Sillah is a finance specialist and worked at The Gambia Telecommunications as Chief Finance Officer. He also served as the Head of Finance (HoF) at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and was a contractor agent for The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission (MONUSCO) in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr. João Bernardo VIEIRA is the founding partner of Vieira Landim & Associates, a law firm established in 2023. Prior to this, he served as a Member of Parliament in Guinea-Bissau and as CEO of Bissau Group Law Firm. He was Secretary of State for Transportation and Communications and an executive member of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority. Mr. Vieira holds a Master’s degree in Sustainable International Development.

Mr. Leonard Otuonye UGBAJAH is a lawyer with 20 years of professional experience in legal practice, international development consulting, and policy advisory. His expertise covers, among others, competition and consumer protection law, trade and regional integration in Africa, He holds a postgraduate diploma in International Business Law and a Master’s degree in Competition Law and a Masters’ in International Affairs and Strategic Studies.

Dr. Mor BACKHOUM is the Technical Secretary of the National Monitoring Committee for Local Content (ST-CNSCL) at the Ministry of Energy, Petroleum and Mines. He is a lecturer and researcher at the Cheikh Hamidou Kane Digital University (UN-CHK). His research focuses primarily on intellectual property, competition law, and the right to development, with a particular emphasis on the situation of developing countries. HE holds a PhD in Law.

Mr. Biva OURO DONI worked at the Directorate General of Taxes of Togo as Head of the Company Accounting Verification Unit and Director of Small and Medium Enterprises with the rank of Principal Tax Inspector. He has developed expertise in business accounting and taxation.

Dr. Simeon KOFFI is since May 2021 the Executive Director of ERCA. Prior to this position, he was the Head of the Research and Development Division of the ECOWAS Commission. He worked also as Researcher at the Central Bank of West African States and at the Ivorian Centre for Economic and Social Research. He was also a lecturer in Economics, Statistics and Econometrics at the University of Abidjan and at the National School of Statistics and Applied Economics of Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. He holds a PhD in Economy and a master’s degree in Statistics.