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Africa: ECOWAS introduces competition regulator

By  |  July 1, 2019
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has a new competition regulator with the launch of the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA) on 31 May in Banjul, Gambia.

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    ECOWAS adopted its Regional Competition Rules in 2008 and at the same time, established the ERCA, as part of a regional competition policy adopted in 2007, however it has taken until now to launch the agency, which will monitor the region for market distorting anti-consumer activity.

    Behaviour that is regulated includes abuse of dominance, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), state aid and restrictive business practices, all of which have been hot-button topics in international competition law across other regions including the European Union in recent years.

    ERCA fills in a gap, as unlike in other regions, “the members of ECOWAS are predominantly without effective competition legislation on a domestic level”, says Tamara Dini, co-head of the competition practice with Bowmans in Cape Town.

    Full Content: African Law Business

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