Côte d’Ivoire gambling regulator joins historic competition cooperation pact
The ARJH joins a cooperation agreement with Côte d’Ivoire’s Competition Commission and sectoral regulators to strengthen competition coordination and information sharing.
Côte d’Ivoire.- Côte d’Ivoire’s Gambling Regulatory Authority (ARJH), is part of a new cooperation agreement between the Competition Commission and the country’s sectoral regulators, creating a formal framework for coordination on competition matters.
According to an official communiqué published by Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Handicrafts on August 13, citing the Competition Commission, the agreement was signed at a validation and signing workshop.
The Ministry report describes the agreement as “historic”, while competition commission secretary-general N’Kon Minanou, speaking on behalf of president Esso Abanet Blanche, described the initiative as unprecedented and presented it as a first at the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) levels.
The agreement creates a permanent framework for consultation, information and expertise sharing, coordination of interventions and prevention of conflicts of competence between the Competition Commission and sectoral regulators. It also provides for designated focal points, two annual consultation meetings and an annual action matrix.
Dally Jules, president of the ARJH Regulatory Council, spoke on behalf of the sectoral regulatory authorities and said the agreement would contribute to effective, healthy and sustainable competition, private-sector development and an improved business climate.
For the gambling sector, the key development is the ARJH’s participation in this wider regulatory cooperation framework, bringing the gambling regulator into a formal mechanism for cooperation with the Competition Commission and other sectoral authorities on competition-related matters.
