South Sudan Benchmarks with the Competition Authority

The Competition Authority hosted a delegation from South Sudan on Thursday October 25^th, which was visiting Botswana on a bench-marking mission under the auspices of the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre. The delegation which comprised senior government officials and an official from the International Finance Corporation was led by Honourable Member of Parliament Mr Henry Dilah Iluga Odwa.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Competition Authority Mr. Thula Kaira briefed the delegation on the evolution of Botswana’s competition law and policy frameworks starting with the Economic Mapping Survey in 2002, the National Competition Policy of 2005, the Competition Act of 2009 and the establishment of the Competition Authority in April 2011.

Mr. Kaira told the South Sudan Delegation that competition law controls selfish business gains and consumer exploitation, and strives to facilitate broad-based wealth creation by ensuring open and fair markets. He said the fundamental aim of effective competition in an economy is that the more players exist in any market, the more the behaviour of market players will answer to the needs of customers and consumers.

The South Sudan delegation inquired on a number of issues such as fines imposed for anti-competitive behaviour, how to deal with political interference, statutory monopolies and instances where the Government itself engages in anti-competitive behaviour.

South Sudan became an independent state on July 9, 2011