Saly, Sénégal, le 13 mars 2022                            

 The first retreat of the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA) was held at Hotel Les Flamboyants, Saly Portudal, Senegal from 9 to 13 March 2022. Organised by the ECOWAS Commissioner for Trade, Customs and Free Movement of Persons, the retreat brought together all ERCA staff to enable them to review of the activities of the body since it was set up in 2019. He staff would also identify the prospects for 2022 and 2023, for the full implementation of the ERCA five-year strategic plan.

At the opening ceremony, Dr Simeon Koffi, ERCA acting Director welcomed the participants and thanked them for their presence. He provided the background of the retreat which is taking place almost three years after ERCA first started operations. He underscored the need to review the activities undertaken and identify prospects for the future. Having congratulated his colleagues at ERCA for their efforts and encouraged them to do more, he thanked the ECOWAS Commission management and in particular the Commissioner for Trade, Customs and Free Movement, for his constant support of ERCA.

Speaking in turn, Mr. Salifou Tiemtore, Director of Customs Union and Taxation praised ERCA for its achievements in spite of its limited staff strength. Recalling ECOWAS’ challenges in trade facilitation, he stressed the need for collaboration among ERCA and other directorates of the Department, to tackle the different obstacles to intra-regional trade.

Mr. Tei Konzi, Commissioner for Trade, Customs and Free Movement who flagged off the retreat, acknowledged the work accomplished by the ERCA team over the past year. He said it was necessary to consolidate the achievements through, in particular, the finalisation of the collaboration framework between ERCA and UEMOA Commission, collaboration among ERCA and the Commission’s departments, particularly the Department for Macroeconomics, an information meeting on ERCA activities and collaboration with other relevant directorates within the AfCFTA framework.

During the meeting, the participants considered the ERCA 2021 Activity Report, assessed the implementation of the 2019 – 2023 Action Plan, prepared the 2019 – 2022 report, developed a 2022 activity matrix to ensure regular monitoring of activity implementation and identified prospects for the coming years.

The first ERCA retreat ended with the adoption of a report, recommendations made and wishes expressed to the ECOWAS Commission management.