The Technical Commission for Sectoral Policies of the Union (CTPS), held its first meeting of the year, on July 15 and 16, 2021 simultaneously face-to-face in Lomé, and by videoconference. The facilitation and harmonization of the conditions of access of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises/Industries to regional public markets were at the center of these meetings.

The CTPS is responsible for issues relating to human resources, community land use planning, infrastructure, transport and telecommunications, rural development, the environment, energy, mining, industry and to craftsmanship. Placed on the theme: “Facilitation and harmonization of the conditions of access of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises/Industries (MSMEs/SMIs) to regional public markets? », the meeting of the CTPS was marked by several communications. These various communications focused on the difficulties of access to national public markets by MSMEs/SMIs in WAEMU and the harmonization of the conditions of access of MSMEs/SMIs to these national public markets. The issue of access to bank financing in the context of public procurement and the legal framework for the dematerialization of public procurement procedures in WAEMU were then discussed. The meeting also provided an update on the implementation of the recommendations made at the September 2020 meeting.