Posted on August, 9, 2018 at 08:45 am
George Kebaso @Morarak
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) member states have been asked to quickly address uncompetitive business practices within the trading bloc.
These practices, the Comesa Competition Commission has observed, are inhibiting strategic efforts to harness the region’s demographic dividends.
Chief Executive of the Commission George Lipimile said the business practices mainly driven by cartels operating in the region had contributed to the dwindling trade standards in the bloc – currently a 490-million people market.
This, he said had affected economic growth and contributed to the widening youth unemployment. “There are cartels operating in the Comesa region and affecting growth of business. It is important to stop their proliferation to protect the integrity of businesses in Africa,”” said Lipimile during the ongoing Fifth Comesa Annual Research Forum in Nairobi.
He specifically identified the banking sector as the most affected where consumers are abused everyday through lack of disclosure of information to customers.
“We need transparency so that information can go to the consumer, for instance, how semi−illiterate customers can know when banks raise interest rates” he said at the forum aimed at harnessing the demographic dividend of Africa’s young population.
Lipimile said lack of transparency is one way of protectionism, which at an advanced stage, becomes a non-tariff barrier. He said there is need for Comesa member states to come up with systems that are responsive to the consumers’ concerns.
However, Lipimile said representatives of various institutions attending the five-day meeting can use the forum to advance state-of-the-art formulation and enforcement of competition and consumer protection laws and policies for better development.
He said public−private partnership linkages between the academia and industry would help fence off uncompetitive business practices by cartels to foster positive economic growth.
Trade Principal Secretary, Chris Kiptoo said part of the required strategies to harness demographic dividends is to equip youths with the relevant skills required on the continent and to help create jobs for them to accelerate socio-economic transformation.