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In a major political consolidation aimed at strengthening the grassroots structure of the ruling party, four major factions of serving and former councilors under the All...
Osun state governor Adeleke The national leadership of Accord has endorsed Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke for re-election in the August 15 governorship election. The party...
▪️At SPE-NAICE 2026, Authority Chief Underscores Ties For Nigeria’s Midstream, Downstream Devt The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority...
The Economic Community of West African States Regional Competition Authority has warned that price-fixing, market allocation and anti-competitive practices are 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 on Monday at the National Information and Awareness Seminar on Competition Law and Policy in West Africa in Abuja, Executive Director of the 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 benefited 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 was aimed at improving 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. “We still see situations where products made in one country cannot easily be sold in another because certain market associations determine who can sell and who cannot. As a result, some products are very expensive in one country but much cheaper in another,” he said. He added that the authority also scrutinises mergers involving foreign firms to ensure acquisitions do not eliminate competition or threaten the survival of small and medium-sized enterprises. Earlier, the Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Mr Tunji Bello, said strong competition enforcement remained essential for building resilient and inclusive economies. Represented by the Commission’s Head of Mergers and Acquisitions, Eme David-Ojugo, Bello said Nigeria’s competition regime had recorded significant progress since the enactment of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act in 2018. He said the commission had strengthened merger reviews, intensified enforcement against anti-competitive agreements, enhanced market surveillance and expanded advocacy to encourage voluntary compliance. “Our experience has reinforced an important principle: competition law is not designed to inhibit legitimate business growth or commercial success. Rather, it exists to ensure that businesses compete on merit, innovation is rewarded, markets remain contestable, and consumers enjoy the benefits of better quality, greater choice and fair prices,” Bello said. He added that sustained education and collaboration with businesses, regulators and consumer groups had helped create a more transparent and predictable regulatory environment capable of attracting investment and supporting responsible enterprise in Nigeria.
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Troops of 34 Artillery Brigade, have uncovered and exhumed the remains of a body suspected to be that of late Chief Ibe Anyadu...
The Presidency has announced that President Bola Tinubu will receive the Executive National Policing Bill for review on September 3, 2026, marking a significant milestone in...
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vice President Kashim Shettima says Nigeria is currently on the right path to growth and development trajectory. Mr Shettima said this on Monday...
Claiming that sanity in broadcasting in Nigeria was now threatened, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has asked the Court of Appeal in Abuja to allow it...
A coalition of civil society organisations has called on the National Assembly to withdraw a series of controversial bills that poses threats to civic freedoms, democratic...
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Nigerian equities market opened the week on a positive note on Monday, advancing by 0.18 per cent as investors gained N288 billion....