CA to Celebrate Competition Week

The Competition Authority will celebrate Competition Week from the 4^th to 8th December 2017 with the objective of enhancing awareness on competition and its benefits to the economy and consumers.

Every year on 5^th December competition agencies, consumer advocates and civil society organisations, celebrate World Competition Day under a chosen theme to highlight the benefits of competition. Another objective is to have the day formally recognised by the UN.

It is on 5^th December 1980 that the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 35/63 on the Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices. The objective was to ensure that restrictive business practices do not impede trade and development in developing countries.

The theme selected for this year is ‘Competition and Disruption.’ The world has witnessed an exponential evolution of online businesses which employ disruptive technologies and business models across numerous sectors such as hospitality, finance and tourism. Issues in to be addressed by policymakers and regulators in e-commerce include competition, and how competition agencies should respond to safeguard competition for consumer welfare.

The Authority will host a number of activities in commemoration of Competition Week from 4^th to 8^th December. On Tuesday 5^th December the Authority will host a panel discussion under the theme ‘Competition and Disruption’. Panellists will be drawn from the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority, BOCRA, Business Botswana and the University of Botswana.  On the same day there will be an interview on Radio Botswana’s Masa a Sele Morning Show.  Activities lined up for the week include jingles on Gabz FM as well as presentations to staff as Competition Authority brand ambassadors.

On Thursday 7^th December there will be a press conference to share results of the Post Merger Impact Survey that the Authority has conducted. The Authority makes a number of merger determinations on various acquisitions and mergers and imposes conditions on some of the transactions.

The Post Merger Impact Survey is a tool undertaken to measure the level of compliance by the merging parties on the conditions imposed on them. The tool could also be used to measure the impact of the Authority‘s work on the economy.

Activities of the week will culminate in a CSR activity in the form of litter picking and donations to Tsolamosesse Ward. There will also be Fun Football with Tsolamosese select side.