a tripartite report - Unctad

96 VOLUNTARY PEER REVIEW OF CLP: A TRIPARTITE REPORT ON THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA – ZAMBIA – ZIMBABWE
prises, 12 in all, had however to be liquidated at
the time of privatization as there were no buyers
willing to resuscitate them.
Zambia’s Fifth National Development Plan: 2006-
2011 (FNDP) was adopted with a theme based
on “broad-based wealth and job creation through
citizenry participation and technological advancement”.
The Plan’s strategic focus was on economic
infrastructure and human resources development.
It also had an interface with competition policy and
law, as observed by the former Zambia Competition
Commission (ZCC) in the Commission’s Strategic
Plan: 2008-2011 115 , in that it recognized the smallness
of Zambia’s domestic market, which made it
susceptible to unfair advantage gained by private
anticompetitive practices, which in turn created an
ZCC stated that in the furtherance of the commerce
and trade objectives of the FNDP, “the Commission
envisages a situation where competition plays a key
role in ensuring that innovation in the production
and distribution chain for goods and services does
have a positive impact on wealth creation by way
of access to equitable business opportunities for all
entrepreneurs and that whatever wealth is created
by business, it does lead to increased welfare of citizens
(i.e., consumers)”.
1.2 Foundations and History of
Competition Policy and Law in
Zambia
The Commission’s Strategic Plan: 2008-2011 gives
a very good background on the foundations and
history of competition policy in Zambia, as shown
in Box 3 on the relevant extract of the Plan.
Box 3: Extract from the Commission’s Strategic Plan: 2008-2011 on Foundations and History of
Competition Policy and Law in Zambia
The advent of “The Third Republic” in 1991 witnessed economic transformation from an overly State controlled Socialist
economy to a market economy, resulting in the commercialization and privatization of State-owned enterprises.
For purposes of privatization, the Privatization Act was passed in 1992 and the Zambia Privatization Agency (ZPA)
established, followed by the Investment Act and the establishment of the Zambia Investment Centre (ZIC) to attract
investment to the economy. Since the economy was previously characterized by monopoly and other dominant State
enterprises, the Government sought to put in place a competition enforcement mechanism that would ensure that
the gains of privatization and the new investment that was coming into the country was not to be eroded by the anticompetitive
conduct of private monopoly and dominant players in the newly liberalized economy. The Competition
and Fair Trading Act, CAP 417 of the Laws of Zambia was enacted in 1994 by Parliament. The Zambia Competition
Commission however became operational in May 1997 when the Executive Director was appointed.
A common aspiration underlying these reforms was to provide greater incentives to stimulate entrepreneurial activ-
improved quantity and quality of goods and services at prices determined by the market rather than administrative
decision.
It was further anticipated that the “free play” of supply and demand would, in the long run, determine market price
programmes were adopted that included market oriented reforms, notably in the areas of deregulation of prices, including
the reduction or elimination of subsidies, administrative allocation of key product inputs, privatization of public
enterprises and monopolies, as well as the liberalization of trade policy and investment regimes.
mance.
It was further recognized that a country that has undertaken trade liberalization measures has every interest
As per Government vision, the law on competition in Zambia seeks to encourage competition and fair-trading by
prohibiting anticompetitive practices which are likely to adversely affect competition and fair trading in Zambia.
The law also controls mergers and acquisitions and regulates monopolies and concentrations of economic power.
Other aspects of the law that fall within its legal protection are consumer welfare, freedom of trade and expansion
of goods and services in Zambia.