This year’s theme for World Competition Day specifically focuses on lowly developed markets including Malawi—CFTC

* Micro, small, medium and micro enterprises (MSMEs) face barriers to entry due to some inequalities and anti-competitive trade practices

* These include anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant positions among others, culminating into serious consequences for their development

By Duncan Mlanjira

The theme for this year’s World Competition Day; ‘Competition Policy and Inequality’, which is being commemorated today, November 5, is “very relevant as it specifically focuses on lowly developed markets including Malawi”.

This is said by Chief Executive Officer for Competition & Fair Trading Commission (CFTC), Lloyds Vincent Nkhoma in a statement, adding that micro, small, medium and micro enterprises (MSMEs) “face barriers to entry due to some inequalities and anti-competitive trade practices”.

These, according to Nkhoma, include “anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant positions among others, culminating into serious consequences for their development’.

“MSMEs face hurdles to have an opportunity to compete and access the markets on merit. In Malawi, these inequalities have intensified in the wake of a number of factors including slow recovery from the effects of CoVID 19 pandemic and environmental disasters such as Cyclone Freddy.

“In order to navigate through such a market environment, some big companies have resolved to engaging in anti-competitive business conducts such as excessive pricing or supplying substandard products hence negatively affecting consumer welfare.

“In such an environment, competition serves as a valuable complementary instrument, which can be used to reduce economic inequality as part of its mandate to protect free market rivalry.”

Nkhoma added that the recent review and enactment of the Competition and Fair Trading Act (CFTA) “has enhanced the drive to safeguard competition and consumer protection in all markets and encourage entry and growth of MSMEs”.

He emphasised that the significance of the World Competition Day dates back to December 5, 1980, when the United Nations adopted the international standard for competition laws known as ‘the Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices’ — commonly referred to as ‘the United Nations Set of Principles and Rules on Competition’.

Following this development, Consumer Unity Trust (CUTS) International launched a campaign advocating for the celebration of the 5th of December every year as the World Competition Day.

In commemoration of this year’s World Competition Day, Nkhoma says the CFTC will conduct several advocacy activities, chief of which is a panel discussion that will be aired on Radio and TV today, December 5, from 18h00 — whose panelists will include himself, Secretary for Trade & Industry, CEO for COMESA Competition Commission (CCC), and CEO for Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI).

Thus, the CFTC has invited all traders, government institutions, sector regulators, trade associations, international agencies and consumers to join it in commemorating this year’s World Competition Day as collaboration in making a strong statement of safeguarding the competition culture “as a prerequisite to reducing market inequalities”.

In September, the CFTC was recognised with a global award jointly by International Consumer Protection & Enforcement Network (ICPEN) and the World Bank for its work in consumer protection, especially through cross border cooperation with other national and regional enforcement agencies.

The award, which is contest-based at global level, is aimed to showcase good practices in implementation, enforcement, and compliance matters regarding consumer protection — and CFTC was recognised through a process it carried out in 2023.

CFTC reported that it received a complaint from a consumer in Lilongwe alleging that there were pieces of glass in a detergent paste which inflicted cuts in her hands during washing and after market inspections, the Commission identified two other shops selling the said products which also had glass particles inside.

CFTC then engaged Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) to conduct tests on the product which revealed that the product had some material defect and that it indeed contained glass particles.

Considering the cross border presence of the manufacturer, CFTC engaged COMESA Competition Commission (CCC) and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission of Zambia (CCPC) to facilitate a broader and effective cross border redress.

CFTC has longstanding cooperation agreements with CCC and CCPC and through the collaborative investigations, it was found that the said products, particularly under the same batch, had also been supplied to other countries including Zambia and Zimbabwe.

CFTC, CCC and CCPC ordered the manufacturer to recall the said products from the market, not just from the markets where the products had been found, but from all the countries where the products had been supplied to. The manufacturer also provided remedial measures to the complainant.

The CFTC further reported that this was the third time it had received an international award for its outstanding work in competition enforcement and consumer protection — citing two consecutive years, 2015 and 2016, when the World Bank Group, in conjunction with the International Competition Network, awarded CFTC for its innovative advocacy strategies in the promotion of competition in emerging markets.