Namibia to adopt Competition Legislation

NAMIBIA has become one the few countries in Africa that has taken the first steps towards the introduction of competition legislation. “Namibia was inspired by SA’s competition laws. Much of Namibia’s legislation is based on SA’s Competition Act,” says Nkonzo Hlatshwayo. At present only SA, Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia, Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Zambia have adopted competition laws in Africa.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is raising awareness of the need for a competition regime at a regional level. SADC’s integration has called for the accelerated achievement of a free trade area (FTA), to be followed by a customs union in 2010, a common market by 2015 and finally a monetary union.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) is setting up a regional competition authority in Africa. However, SA and Botswana are not members of Comesa. Comesa has also put a customs union at the top of its agenda this year. The union, which would bring member countries under common external tariffs, is expected to ease the costs and processes of trade. It is expected that Comesa will have appointed commissioners for the regional authorities by July 1.The competition regional authority for Comesa is expected to be set up in Malawi or Rwanda, following the European Union (EU) model. For the full Business Day report click here. Posted by Darren Olivier