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The Council of ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA) convened its second statutory session in Banjul, Republic of The Gambia from 1st to 4th July 2025 to discuss the council procedures and agree to its initial schedule of work. Specifically, discussions focused on the ERCA Council’s Manual of procedures and the Council’s work program for the year 2025–2026.
The meeting was attended by Members of the ERCA Council and the Secretariat.
The Executive Director of ERCA, Dr. Simeon K. Koffi on behalf of the ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, highlighted the importance of this second ordinary session of the Council, as a platform for detail discussion on the provisions of the Council’s Procedural Manual for effective enforcement of the Community Competition Rules. He further highlighted the need for the Council to have a work programme that feeds into the program of the Secretariat to ensure that the budgetary allocation from the Commission are accurately reflected in all the activities of the Council.
The Executive Director, while welcoming all participants for their presence, emphasized the importance of this session in strengthening ERCA’s institutional processes. He encouraged Members to participate actively in order to enrich the discussions. Finally, he commended the accomplishments of the Council within a short period of time citing the decisions made so far on mergers.
In her welcome remarks, the Chairperson of the ERCA Council, Dr. Juliette TWUMASI-ANOKYE, expressed her sincere appreciation for the presence of the council Members and reaffirmed the shared commitment of the Council to advancing competition regulation across the region.
Dr. Twumasi-Anokye underscored the importance of this session and commended the efforts of the Secretariat on the work of the Council in particular, the accomplishments registered in recent months including the adoption of seven (7) decisions related to mergers.
She encouraged members to actively participate in the meeting by openly sharing their knowledge and experiences on competition regulation and emphasized the need for firm commitment to the Council’s mandate and responsibilities as outlined in its manual of procedures and the importance of adopting a common approach in order to ensure fair practices across all member states.
The Executive Director presented to the meeting the Work Programme of the Competition Consultative Committee (CCC), which together with Council’s budget provide the basis for ERCA’s overall budget for preparation of the ECOWAS’ Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).
Following the discussions and recommendations, the Council adopted its Work Programme for 2025-2026 which will be consolidated with the Work Programme of the Secretariat.