By Eneole Otorkpa, Abuja
The Economic Community of West African States Regional Competition Authority (ECOWAS-ERCA) has warned that price-fixing, market allocation and anti-competitive practices were undermining economic integration and driving up the cost of goods across West Africa.
The authority said such practices deny consumers fair prices, limit opportunities for small businesses and weaken the region’s competitiveness.
Speaking yesterday at the National Information and Awareness Seminar on “Competition Law and Policy in West Africa” in Abuja, the executive director of ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority, Dr Simeon Koffi, said competition remains a critical pillar for economic growth and regional integration.
Koffi, who was represented by a retired director of the ECOWAS Commission, Justice Lago Daniel, said competition policy was designed to ensure efficient markets rather than serve as an end in itself.
He said, “Competition is not an end in itself. It is a means of achieving greater economic efficiency. It stimulates innovation, encourages businesses to improve the quality of their products and services, and ultimately protects consumers from practices that distort the proper functioning of the market.”
According to him, effective competition promotes efficiency, attracts investment, keeps prices competitive and gives consumers wider choices.
He added that the Competition and Consumer Protection Product Safety Support Programme had become an important instrument for improving the business environment, boosting competitiveness and promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth across the sub-region.
Koffi said ECOWAS’ vision of a common market could only succeed if businesses competed on a level playing field and consumers benefitted from regional trade.
He warned that economic integration would remain incomplete if anti-competitive conduct continued unchecked.
“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 opportunities for growth, and the economy as a whole loses dynamism and competitiveness,” he said.
Also speaking, Consultant to IBF/PASCOSPRO and Counsel Member of the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority, Mr Leonard Ugbaja, said the ongoing regional sensitisation campaign aimed to improve public understanding of competition law across member states.
He said the authority was already engaging stakeholders in Nigeria, while another team was carrying out similar activities in Ghana.
Ugbaja said the authority handles cross-border competition issues affecting more than one ECOWAS member state, including agriculture, petroleum products, cement trade and the digital economy.
He lamented that despite the removal of tariffs within ECOWAS, market associations still create barriers that prevent goods from moving freely across borders.
