Ngom, Mbissane --- "Regional Integration and Competition Policy in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Region" [2012] ELECD 891; in Drexl, Josef; Bakhoum, Mor; Fox, M. Eleanor; Gal, S. Michal; Gerber, J. David (eds), "Competition Policy and Regional Integration in Developing Countries" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: Competition Policy and Regional Integration in Developing Countries

Editor(s): Drexl, Josef; Bakhoum, Mor; Fox, M. Eleanor; Gal, S. Michal; Gerber, J. David

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781004302

Section: Chapter 6

Section Title: Regional Integration and Competition Policy in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Region

Author(s): Ngom, Mbissane

Number of pages: 17

Extract:

6. Regional integration and competition
policy in the Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS)
region
Mbissane Ngom

1. INTRODUCTION
The opening of national economies to competition has become a fundamen-
tal necessity and in many respects a condition for economic development.
The experiences of the South East Asian countries have sufficiently proven
this. Unquestionably, in a few cases, this development, whose pace was
sometimes forced, was detrimental to human rights. However, the economic
progress achieved by such Asian `tigers' remains, and can inspire other
developing countries. The creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
and the globalization of the economy have led to the necessity for all
countries to enact a competition policy to enhance the rivalry between
economic operators. Developing countries, and especially the West African
countries, have adopted a collective approach towards disciplining the
market. Hence, the Economic Community of West African States (ECO-
WAS)1 also strives for an implementation of a competition law and policy,
following the example of the West African Economic and Monetary Union
(WAEMU).
ECOWAS was created in Lagos on 28 May 1975. The constitutive treaty
was modified in Cotonou on 24 July 1993. Its main objective was to create
an intra-regional West African market. In order to achieve this, ECOWAS

1
ECOWAS has 15 member states: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory
Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria,
Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. ECOWAS has approximately 290 million inhabit-
ants. For more information on ECOWAS see: ...