The inaugural Annual Conference of the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA) commences in Banjul, The Gambia, today, Monday, September 14, 2026, bringing together policymakers, regulators, academics, legal practitioners and competition experts to deliberate on the future of competition policy and market integration in West Africa.
The four-day conference is being held under the theme, “Competition Policy and Market Integration in ECOWAS: Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities.”
The opening ceremony is expected to feature an address by the President of the ECOWAS Commission and a keynote address by the President of The Gambia, Adama Barrow.
Deepening Regional Integration
The conference comes as ECOWAS seeks to strengthen competition enforcement across an increasingly integrated and digitalised regional market.
ERCA was operationalised in 2019 and has since developed enforcement tools, reviewed cross-border mergers, supported Member States in strengthening national competition regimes, conducted market studies and promoted cooperation among competition authorities.
However, the Authority identifies fragmented markets, divergent legal frameworks, limited institutional capacity, market concentration and emerging challenges associated with digital markets, data governance and artificial intelligence as continuing obstacles to effective regional competition enforcement.
Discussions over the three days will therefore focus on regional and cross-border cooperation, harmonisation of competition laws, digital markets, regional value chains, strategic sectors, market power, regulatory compliance and judicial enforcement.
Ghanaian Analyst to Present Paper
Among the studies selected for presentation is a paper by Ghanaian governance and policy analyst Nana Kwasi Asuman-Frimpong titled, “The Role of Civil Society Organisations in the Enforcement of Consumer Rights under the ECOWAS Regional Competition Framework.”
The paper examines the existing competition and consumer protection enforcement architecture within ECOWAS and compares the regional system with selected regimes in the United Kingdom, European Union, United States, South Africa and the East African Community.
Mr Asuman-Frimpong argues that although consumer welfare occupies an important place within the regional competition framework, enforcement remains largely dependent on public institutions and cooperation among Member States, with limited statutory roles for consumer organisations and civil society groups in pursuing collective consumer redress.
He proposes a complementary enforcement model that would grant qualified CSOs statutory standing to lodge structured market complaints, pursue representative and injunctive redress, participate in Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms and support consumers affected by systemic market abuses.
The paper also recommends cost-effective redress mechanisms and stronger information-sharing arrangements between ERCA, national institutions and qualified CSOs, particularly in cases involving cross-border consumer harm.
ERCA’s call for papers invited evidence-based research and policy analysis to help inform discussions and strengthen regional competition policy and enforcement, with selected papers eligible for presentation at plenary sessions, thematic panels, policy roundtables and breakout sessions.
High-Level Discussions
The opening day’s high-level panel will examine competition policy as a pillar of regional economic integration and is expected to feature senior officials and international experts, including The Gambia’s Trade Minister Mod K. Ceesay, Professor Eleonor Fox of New York University School of Law and Professor Dennis Davis of the University of Cape Town.
Other sessions will bring together experts from institutions including the OECD, AfCFTA, CARICOM Competition Commission, COMESA, UEMOA, CEMAC, UNIDO, World Bank and competition authorities across Africa.
The conference will conclude with discussions on priorities for strengthening competition enforcement, cooperation between ERCA and national authorities, institutional capacity and the role of competition policy in regional integration, investment and economic transformation.
A conference declaration by ERCA Executive Director Dr Simeon Koffi is expected to form part of the official closing ceremony.
