"A lot of advocacy is needed to inform and educate consumers about their rights and obligations"

Chief Executive of the Gambia Commission for Competition and Consumer Protection, Amadou Ceesay participated actively in the regional workshop for the validation of a Community regulatory framework for consumer protection and a mechanism for the representation of consumers in ECOWAS quality Infrastructure bodies. It was from 19 to 21 November 2018 in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). In this interview, he emphasizes the cooperation and frank collaboration between the national control agencies and the consumer associations for more effective protection of the latter.

WAQSP: How do you appreciate the work of this workshop organized by the WAQSP for the benefit of consumer associations in the region?

Mr. Amadou Ceesay: This is a very good initiative by ECOWAS to bring together consumer associations and national anti-fraud organizations, because we all work together, even if our objectives are sometimes different. As oversight bodies, we ensure the protection of consumer populations while consumer associations make more advocacy. I think that's fine. Most importantly, we need to share our experiences in this area: what we do in The Gambia, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, etc. From this workshop, I understand that we are at very different stages of development in the field of consumer protection. As I said at the conference, we have a functional court in The Gambia and we are very advanced in the competition system. So we manage to put the two together and as Dr. Seydou Sako said, ECOWAS has just been laurels. The ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority will begin to intervene in The Gambia next month. So I think that in this perspective of consumer protection, that's fine. In addition, the idea of ​​the portal or the digital platform of exchanges between the consumer associations of ECOWAS is a good initiative. We have a similar portal "African Dialogue" and I think we will share our experiences. This is one of the advantages of the ECOWAS Quality Programme.

WAQSP: As the head of the Gambian Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, what are the main challenges you face in the protection of consumers in The Gambia?

Mr. Amadou Ceesay: In fact, most of the problems we face are related to the level of awareness of the consumer protection laws in The Gambia. This is still new, so much advocacy is done to inform people about their rights and obligations that they often ignore. For example, a simple thing like asking for a receipt is both a right and an obligation for the consumer. So, if you come to complain and you do not have a receipt, for example, a banal thing, therefore, we have no proof to validate the transaction. So you need a lot of education. Especially since consumer protection affects a number of sectors of the economy: you have to deal with the food safety authority, the standards office and the regulatory bodies. So there is sometimes a war between the consumer protection agencies and all the regulators. This is a big challenge we face.