On August 14-16, 2023, the East African Community (EAC) Competition Authority and the National Competition Commission jointly organized a workshop on the implementation of the Joint Competition Policy.

Opening the proceedings, the CONAC coordinator, Freddy Nsimba Luzolo, urged the participants, including his institution's agents, to capitalize on these moments by using the EAC's experience to make a thorough assessment of the situation of competition legislation in the DRC in order to assess the improvements to be made to the business environment in the DRC.

In her speech, the Director General of the EAC Competition Authority (EACCA), Lilian Kajuju Mukoronia, began by presenting her institution, born in 2016. She outlined the context of its creation, its organs, its objectives and especially its role in the application of the regional law on competition, a guarantee of the fight against anti-competitive practices likely to poison the common market.

Taking the floor in my turn, I presented an overview of the integration of the Democratic Republic of Congo within the EAC. Then, I demonstrated the advantages of the economic and political integration of the DRC within this sub-regional organization. I then presented the merits of competition in international trade while reminding the audience of the prospect of the creation of a central bank and a single currency, levers which will allow Africa to achieve development.

Based on my experience at the World Trade Organization, I demonstrated the merits of competition in the international trade sector, while recalling that competition policy aims to enforce rules that guarantee fair competition. Competition policy helps to stimulate entrepreneurship and productivity, expand the range of products for consumers, lower prices, and improve the quality of goods and services.