ECOWAS unveils bold new era for West African trade

By Dawda Baldeh

Regional and international trade experts, legal specialists, and senior government officials met in The Gambia on Monday for a National Seminar on Innovation and Competition Policy aimed at strengthening markets across West Africa.

The event, led by the Gambia Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (GCCPC) in partnership with the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA), the European Union Delegation to The Gambia, and the Competition and Consumer Protection Support Programme (PACoSPro), set out a roadmap to make markets more transparent, protect consumers, and help small businesses compete as Africa moves toward a single continental market.

Speakers warned that opening borders alone will not deliver prosperity and urged stronger competition rules to prevent predatory corporate behaviour that can stifle local firms and harm consumers.

“None of our countries can fully realize its economic potential in isolation,” Dr Simeon Koffi, Executive Director of ERCA, said in his opening address. “Regional integration is not merely an institutional project. Above all, it is a development project aimed at improving the living conditions of the population of West Africa.”

He added that without strict competition rules, “When firms collude to fix prices, divide markets, or prevent the entry of new competitors, consumers pay the price. Small and medium-sized enterprises face reduced opportunity for growth, and the economy as a whole loses dynamism.”

Delegates highlighted Parcours Pro (PACoS Pro), an EU‑funded competition and consumer support initiative implemented by GIZ and IBF, which has recently rolled out in Guinea and Sierra Leone and is now focusing on The Gambia.

“This is not about reviewing the laws and the regulations,” Mariana Tavares, a competition expert with the programme, said. “It’s about creating a platform for dialogue. Regional cooperation has become a necessity rather than an option.”

She also warned that authorities must adapt to cross‑border digital platforms and complex international mergers: “We are reviewing merger control rules precisely to take into consideration other sorts of objectives into competition law.”

Organisers unveiled plans for an ECOWAS Competition Information System, a digital platform intended to let businesses clear mergers electronically and enable citizens to lodge consumer complaints online. The system is presented as a key step in modernising trade infrastructure across the region.

Deputy Permanent Secretary Mariama Fofana, representing the Ministry of Trade, reiterated the government’s commitment to opening West African markets while ensuring a level playing field for all actors.

With the African Continental Free Trade Area creating a market of more than 1.3 billion consumers, speakers said stronger regional competition policy and cooperation are essential to protect consumers, foster small‑business growth and prevent market concentration that could undermine development.