The ECOWAS Regional Competitors Authority (ERCA) convened a technical evaluation assembly on the digital market research in all ECOWAS Member States for a greater understanding of the dynamics of this quickly rising sector from 09 – thirteenth September 2024 in Freetown, Republic of Sierra Leone.
In step with its mandate to maintain underneath evaluation industrial actions within the ECOWAS Market with a view to regulating practices which can distort the environment friendly operation of market conduct or which can adversely have an effect on the financial pursuits of customers, ERCA in collaboration with Member States performed a research on digital markets, an evolving sector pushed by technological improvements and modifications in shopper preferences.
Digital applied sciences have in current occasions entered all sectors of the financial system and as increasingly entities embrace the usage of digital methods and applied sciences, competitors authorities are more and more confronted with the necessity to assess the unilateral conduct of gamers in these markets.
The assembly introduced collectively the technical consultants of the 9 (9) Member States that contributed to the research. The first goal of the assembly was to evaluation the draft studies of Member States in step with Phrases of Reference (ToR). As well as, the assembly sought to harmonize the nation studies and talk about the methodology, evaluation, findings, and conclusions, thus enabling the finalization of the research inside the adopted timeline. It’s also to debate and undertake the roadmap for the finalization and submission of the ultimate draft of the nation and synthesis studies.
Throughout the opening of the assembly, the Govt Director of ERCA, Dr. Simeon KOFFI, on behalf of the Commissioner for Financial Affairs and Agriculture, Madame Massandjé TOURE-LITSE, welcomed the delegates to Freetown and thanked them for contributing to the research. He additionally thanked the Authorities of Sierra Leone by the Ministry of Commerce and Trade for internet hosting the evaluation assembly and appreciated the robust coordination and partnership in making certain the success of the assembly. He acknowledged Sierra Leone’s dedication to making sure the implementation of the Neighborhood Competitors Guidelines with efforts already ongoing within the evaluation and finalization of a contest coverage framework for the institution of an unbiased nationwide competitors authority of Sierra Leone. He emphasised the significance of conducting such research with a view to assessing the digital market panorama in Member States, which is essential for the financial improvement of the group. He additional highlighted the digital market transformation and acknowledged that conducting such a research would help in realizing the challenges in addition to leveraging its potentials for strengthening integration inside the sub-region.
H.E. Harouna MOUSA, the Resident Consultant of the ECOWAS Fee in Sierra Leone, on behalf of the President of ECOWAS Fee H.E. Omar Alieu TOURAY, thanked the federal government of Sierra Leone for internet hosting the assembly and reiterated ECOWAS’s unwavering dedication to deepening financial integration, emphasizing the significance of getting a degree enjoying subject for all of the gamers by the enforcement of competitors guidelines. H.E. Mousa echoed the same assertion, stressing the significance of the research as important for the promotion of a aggressive and consumer-oriented setting, making certain that every one market individuals have a degree enjoying subject. He highlighted that the digital market research just isn’t solely essential for truthful commerce but additionally for the general financial improvement of the area.
The opening assertion of the Deputy Minister of Commerce and Trade of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Hon. Fatmata KARGBO, representing the Minister of Commerce and Trade, Hon. Alpha Ibrahim SESAY, welcomed ECOWAS Regional Competitors Authority and consultants from Member States. Hon. Kargbo conveyed the Minister’s eager curiosity within the implementation and enforcement of competitors guidelines in Sierra Leone and underscored the Ministry’s robust dedication to the aims of the assembly. Hon. Kargbo went additional to elaborate on the significance of the digital market to Sierra Leone’s financial improvement, highlighting it as a sector that the federal government of Sierra Leone is specializing in by way of youth employment and for supporting the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), who’re the direct beneficiaries within the digital market.
The technical evaluation assembly concluded with suggestions for every Member State’s research report and agreed on the finalization of the research report with the adoption of the roadmap for the conclusion, adoption, and publication of the research studies. The closing speech was delivered by the Minister of Commerce and Trade, who thanked ECOWAS for selecting Freetown to host this essential assembly and the Member States for his or her lively contribution to this research. He reiterated Sierra Leone’s dedication to participate within the means of selling competitors and shopper safety in West Africa.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Financial Neighborhood of West African States (ECOWAS).