By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

Stakeholders gathered at the ECOWAS Commission in Banjul, capital of The Gambia to review the draft of the new legal and regulatory framework to guide the digital economy in West Africa.

The Resident Representative of the ECOWAS Commission in The Gambia, Miattta French noted that the digital economy sector is characterized by a fast pace of innovation and continuous improvement and enhancement of existing service offerings.

According to French, the importance of these innovations and services to drive the economy, has made it imperative for policymakers and regulators to develop to regulations which fosters the growth and development of services under a fair and enabling environment while protecting the interests of consumers.

She said that the ECOWAS Commission is fostering a new harmonized legal and regulatory framework to govern the development of digital economy sector in West Africa, that will address the emerging issues in the sector.

The Political Advisor , Mr. Claude Kondo who represented French praised the initiative to review the ICT regulations.

Director for ICT, Mr. Amadou Nyang, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy of The Gambia, Mrs. Amie Njie, also commended the initiative of the Commission to review the long overdue regulations adopted over a decade ago to address specific thematic areas of ICT and modification of such texts to reflect current realities.

Njie noted that the initiative was timely and in alignment with the Government of The Gambia’s own policy direction to give focus to the growth of the digital economy.

She commended the experts from the different stakeholder organizations for their positive response to the call for consultation on the draft regional text and charged them to make contributions reflecting the aspirations of The Gambia.