Within the framework of the Trade and Private Sector Development Project financed by the European Union (EU), and in cooperation with the University of Zimbabwe and Competition and Tariff Commission, UNCTAD organized three training courses on competition in Harare between 2 and 13 February 2015.
Following a peer review of competition law and policy that UNCTAD conducted for Zimbabwe in 2012, a Peer Review Report was published in which a number of recommendations were made to strengthen competition law enforcement and reinforce competition culture in Zimbabwe.
Thanks to the EU funded Trade and Private Sector Development Project aiming at supporting economic recovery and diversification, and poverty reduction in Zimbabwe, UNCTAD started to implement competition law and policy related activities in 2014 in order to implement the peer review recommendations. In this framework, UNCTAD recently delivered three training courses on competition law and policy.
The first event, a training of trainers-introductory course on competition law and economics, held from 2 to 6 February, aimed at introducing competition law and economics in the curriculum of the University of Zimbabwe and to train potential future lecturers in this field. The course was delivered to 25 students and lecturers from the University of Zimbabwe, as well as four economists from the Competition and Tariff Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Zimbabwe.
The opening ceremony for these series of training courses was addressed by Mr Benjamin Chinhengo, Acting Director, Competition and Tariff Commission; Dr Munyanyiwa, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Business, University of Zimbabwe representing the Chancellor; Martin Zhou, Representative of the EU Delegation in Harare; Mrs Elizabeth Gachuiri, Economic Affairs Officer, UNCTAD and officiated by Mr Mungoma, Director, Enterprise and Development, Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
The importance of the inclusion of competition law and economics courses into the curriculum of the University of Zimbabwe and creating a competition culture and developing human resources in this field was highlighted in the opening speech delivered by Dr Munyanyiwa, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University. Mr Mungoma, Director, Enterprise and Development, Ministry of Industry and Commerce called upon Universities to educate their communities through graduates equipped with the necessary competition law and economics knowledge to migrate to the business community.
The second and third training workshops on competition law and policy, held between 9 and 13 February 2015, aimed to reinforce enforcement capacities of the staff and Commissioners of Zimbabwe Competition and Tariff Commission, respectively. In these workshops, UNCTAD engaged experts with competition enforcement backgrounds from the national competition authorities of Kenya, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Zambia and the COMESA Competition Commission to present different areas of competition law enforcement based on their experiences. This facilitated the exchange of knowledge and experience between practitioners in competition law enforcement from different jurisdictions. Such exchange may eventually nurture efforts towards harmonization of law and enforcement practices at the regional level in Africa.
In these two training workshops, UNCTAD benefitted from Investment Facility for Utilising UK Specialist Expertise programme of the UK Department for International Development (DFID), which funded the participation of a case officer from the UK Competition and Markets Authority. The Competition Authority of Kenya also funded the participation of one of its Board members as a resource person in the training workshops. These contributions demonstrate both North-South and South-South solidarity in the area of competition law and policy.
