TOWARDS A DIGITALLY INTEGRATED WEST AFRICAN COMPETITION MARKET: UEMOA AND ERCA/ECOWAS MEET IN BANJUL

The Commission of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU / UEMOA), acting through the Department of Regional Market and Cooperation (DMRC) and its Competition Directorate (DCONC), and the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA/ECOWAS) are holding a joint technical working visit at the headquarters of the ERCA/ECOWAS in Banjul, Republic of The Gambia, from 21 to 23 July 2026. This three-day meeting is convened under the WAEMU–ECOWAS Cooperation Protocol on Competition Matters, with the support of the Programme to Support Competition and Consumer Product Safety in West Africa (PACoSPro), implemented through the technical assistance of the IBF/GIZ consortium.
The mission is designed to bring together two structuring regional instruments: the Digital Competition Ecosystem (EDC) of WAEMU, currently being rolled out within the DCONC, and the Competition Information System (SIC) of the ERCA/ECOWAS, which is already operational in Banjul. The EDC is intended to equip the WAEMU Commission with an integrated digital platform covering the public web interface, an electronic one-stop-shop for submissions, the complaint management system and the competition statistics system. The SIC of the ERCA/ECOWAS already comprises an institutional portal, an e-services platform handling applications for mergers and acquisitions, exemptions and authorisations, leniency, compensation and information requests, a complaint management system, a statistical information system, an online compendium of decisions, and an eLearning module.
The Banjul discussions pursue three operational objectives. Firstly, they will provide the DCONC/WAEMU teams with an in-depth sharing of experience on the architecture, governance and operation of the ERCA/ECOWAS SIC. Secondly, they will establish a structured cooperation mechanism between the two regional authorities to ensure interoperability between the EDC and the SIC, with particular attention to concentration transactions that fall simultaneously within both integration areas. Thirdly, they will open a high-level dialogue on the shared challenges of digital regulation, the secure sharing of data and the use of artificial intelligence in support of market oversight and consumer protection across West Africa.