a tripartite report - Unctad

ZAMBIA
This report is part of the voluntary tripartite peer
review of competition policies in the United Republic
of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The
purpose of this tripartite peer review is to assess
the legal framework and enforcement experiences
in each of the three jurisdictions; draw lessons and
best practices from each jurisdiction; and examine
the value-added of the harmonization of competition
law and its enforcement in this subregion,
as well as increased cooperation. The national
reports review the competition policy systems in
each of the above-mentioned countries, and serve
as a basis for comparative assessment report that
addresses pertinent issues from a subregional perspective.
This report on the voluntary peer review of the implementation
of competition law and policy in the
Republic of Zambia is based on extensive desk re-
research covered review of, inter alia: (i) relevant
legal documents (the Constitution of Zambia, the
country’s old Competition and Fair Trading Act,
1994 and new Competition and Consumer Protection
Act, 2010, and their subsidiary legislation);
(ii) other regulations and guidelines of the Zambian
competition authority, including the authority’s
decisions and reports; and (iii) laws, statutes and
regulations related to the operations of sectoral
regulators and other institutions whose activities
affect the implementation of competition law and
policy in Zambia.
during the period 16 – 23 October 2011, where
interviews were carried out with various stakeholders.
1. GOALS OF COMPETITION
POLICY AND DEVELOPMENT
1.1 Socio-Economic Background
mally
the British colony of Northern Rhodesia, is
a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered
by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to
the north, the United Republic of Tanzania to the
north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to
PREFACE
91
the south-east, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia
to the south, and Angola to the west, with a total
area of 752 614 square kilometres (290 586 square
miles). It has an estimated population (2010) of
13.2 million 91 , of which about 26.5 per cent live in
ten of the country’s largest towns and cities 92 . The
total urbanized population comprises 36 per cent
of the national population if all the other towns
are taken into account 93 , making Zambia is one of
sub-Saharan Africa’s most highly urbanized countries.
Zambia’s current (2010) Gross Domestic Product
94 The economy has experienced modest
growth in recent years, with real GDP growth in
2005-2007 between 5-6 per cent 95 , which rose to
7.6 per cent in 2010 96 . The passing of the 6 per
cent GDP growth threshold was a milestone since
that is the level that is normally needed to reduce
97 , a serious scourge in the region.
The country’s currency is the Kwacha. Currently,
the currency exchange rate has been stable at
about Kwacha 4 854 per 1 United States dollar. In
previous recent years, the exchange rates of Zambian
Kwacha per dollar progressively were 3 601.5
(in 2006), 3 990.2 (2007), 3 512.9 (2008), 5 046.1
(2009), and 4 823.6 (2010) 98 . The worsening of
99 . In
January 2011, it was reported by the Central Sta-
Historically, the same Wikipedia source reported
that in the 1990s, a number of factors had drasti-
included lack of balance-of-payment support, expansion
in the money supply to meet Government
spending and debt obligations, and drawdown on
foreign exchange reserves. All that put pressure
at 32 per cent, consequently, the Kwacha lost the
same value against the dollar. In 2001, Zambia’s
-
ZAMBIA