Gambia
Competition Commission and Consumer Rights Commission (GCCPC), organised a one
day validation workshop, at the Djembe Beach Resort on Wednesday.
The
objective of the workshop was to validate a report and to agree on the best
forward to ensure competition in the financial sector.
In
line with their mandates, under section 15(1) of the completion Act 2017 and
sector 16.1 (j) of the Consumer Protection Consumer Act 2014, the commission
completed a study in the banking sector.
Speaking
at the ceremony, Abdou Njie, vice chairperson and Commissioner for GCCPC, said
the mandate of GCCPC is to protect and promote the institution in the market
place for the benefit of all consumers and businesses.
Mr
Njie noted that during the conduct of the study, officials of the commissions
interviewed many stakeholders across all segments of the financial sector.
The
permanent secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Naffie Barry, said banking is
hugely important to the functioning of the economy, by connecting borrowers and
savers, managing financial risk and providing mechanisms for storing and
transferring value.
Banks
provide a key role in generating growth, she said, adding that banks provide
the fundamental infrastructure for making transactions without which other
markets simply could not work.
The
market study was able to identify some of the weaknesses in the banking sector,
she added.
She
said that at the heart of the concerns about the banking sector is a perceived
lack of ‘consumer focus’ on the part of providers.
“While
there is stronger competition for certain type of consumer products across the
market as a whole, there has been little incentive for innovation, efficiency
or consumer focus,” she said.
“The
‘virtuous circle’ of well-informed consumers driving competitive businesses to
deliver what consumers want simply isn’t working well enough and thus the need
for the study,” she added.
On
the issue of competition, she said, it is important that regulatory processes
do not act as a barrier to entry.
The
GCCPC and the CBG should work together to ensure that competition is not unduly
constrained by taking the business model of incumbent and traditional banks as
the starting point for the design of new rules.
