UNCTAD competition program for Africa

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GENEVA 000674 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR IO/T, IO/EDA, AND PASS TO FTC FOR RDAMTOFT AND NFRANCZYK, DOJ FOR RLARME AND APURCELL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECIN ECON UNCTAD UNDP XA COMESA EAC SACU SADC WAEMU SUBJECT: UNCTAD competition program for Africa ¶1. ACTION REQUEST: If embassies in Africa believe their host countries could benefit from advice on competition policy, please see para 14. ¶2. SUMMARY: In response to requests from several African countries, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched a new Competition Programme for Africa (AFRICOMP) to help African countries develop appropriate administrative, institutional, and legal structures for effective enforcement of competition and consumer laws and policies. During the June 22 ceremony, representatives from the African countries participating in the program as well as regional beneficiaries all expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the program and commitment to its success. Africomp is funded via UNDP, several European donors and Turkey, each of which contributed between 250,000 and one million Euros to launch the program. According to UNCTAD, attracting developed country experts to provide advice is a major challenge, even more difficult than fund raising. END SUMMARY ¶3. At a June 22 launch with African beneficiary countries, donors, and prospective donors (US),UNCTAD provided an overview of the program and delegates made statements of support for the effort. BENEFICIARY MEMBERS -------------- ¶4. Beneficiary countries are divided into three groups: 1. five pilot countries: Ghana, Zambia, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Malawi. 2. Countries in which UNCTAD is already providing assistance: specifically the West African Monetary Union (comprised of the eight Francophone nations in the region: Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Chad, Niger, Benin),and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (comprised of Anglophone countries, many of which overlap with the first group) 3. International Organizations like CEMA (Central African Monetary Union) and SACU (South African Customs Union),which member countries also may overlap with the previous groups. NEW APPROACH TO TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE -------------- ¶5. Hassan Qaqaya, Head of the Competition Branch, introduced the AFRICOMP program by first focusing on its work process. According to Qaqaya, Africomp will work in a consultative manner with local experts and officials in each country. The focus will be on building and creating local expertise. International UNCTAD competition policy experts will stay in the country as advisors no longer than necessary. The UNCTAD staff's goal will be to train locals and ensure a sustainable program. ¶6. Each country will have a tailor-made program. Design, delivery mechanisms and evaluation processes of the AFRICOMP technical assistance programs will be country specific. ¶7. Each beneficiary country will have two key positions for implementation of the Africomp program. The first will be the National Project Coordinator (NPC),who will be a working level competition policy expert appointed by, and paid by, the beneficiary government and approved by UNCTAD to oversee the technical assistance program. The second will be the Program Management Committee (PMC) member, who will typically be the head of the national competition GENEVA 00000674 002 OF 003 authority. The NPC will work for the PMC member. The NPC in consultation with the PMC will determine the special needs of each country, and develop a comprehensive program of technical assistance, for which implementation UNCTAD will seek funding. ¶8. The PMC member will participate in semi annual meetings of the PMC at the regional level. At those meetings, the PMC membership will include a representative from each of the regional groups working on competition policy. According to Qaqaya, UNCTAD will encourage a majority of work to be performed at the regional level in order to further regional integration. TYPES OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING -------------- -------------- ¶9. Technical assistance will consist of both long term and short term missions by UNCTAD and international experts. They will provide advice through one-to-one discussions, workshops, and lectures. Qaqaya said getting expert advice from developed countries is a particular challenge, since competition experts in developed countries tend to be in high demand for their own national work and so are unavailable. Qaqaya hoped experts at the US Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice could provide technical assistance in terms of expert advice. ¶10. Information and experience exchange among African countries will be facilitated through internships, study visits, pooling of human and financial resources among African countries, and staff exchange among peers. In this regard, Qaqaya reiterated his appeal for assistance from the U.S. ¶11. AFRICOMP will build capacities and competences in African countries to take into account developments in the business world, while maintaining clear rules of competition enforcement. To this end, AFRICOMP will assist with the drafting of competition laws and related regulations, setting up of competition agencies, and training of case handlers and judges. ¶12. The AFRICOMP program will encourage regional integration of competition policies by encouraging participating member states to discuss the problems arising from anti-competitive practices, and to seek common solutions by putting regional interests in front of national interests. As this requires strong regional institutions, AFRICOMP will also aim to strengthen regional institutions such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA),East African Community (EAC),ECOWAS, Southern African Customs Union (SACU),Southern African Development Community (SADC),and West African Economic and Monetary Unit (WAEMU). Although these institutions have provisions calling for implementation of a regional competition regime, according to Qaqaya, they have not been able to successfully implement competition law and policy at a regional level because of inadequate human and financial resources. Every six months there will be program coordination committee meeting FUNDING -------------- ¶13. The program has a (quote) pool-basket (end quote) funding system, into which donors contribute. Sources of funding are diverse, including UNDP, United Nations Development Account, and bilateral monetary donors. Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and France have made financial contributions GENEVA 00000674 003 OF 003 so far. Germany provides human assistance with the donation of several full time experts, and Turkey provides monetary assistance with the caveat that its donation will go only to Senegal. Monetary donations vary in size between 250 thousand and 1 million Euros. UNCTAD will determine how best to spend the funds based on requirements expressed by beneficiaries. COMMENTS and FOLLOW UP -------------- ¶14. COMMENT The United States may wish to consider becoming a donor member of AFRICOMP in terms of providing in-kind donations in the form of expert advice. Such advice could support the development of effective competition policies in Africa and ensure that European views on competition policy are not the only ones heard by AFRICOMP beneficiaries as they establish, or reform, their competition authorities. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have extensive experience in providing technical assistance to newer competition agencies (and, in the case of the FTC, consumer protection agencies). Much of this is done with USAID funding, but in some cases FTC and DOJ fund programs themselves. More information may be found at http.www.ftc.gov(slash)oia(slash)assistance.s htm. Posts wishing to explore participating in this program may contact Nicholas Franczyk at nfranczyk(at)ftc.gov or Anne Purcell White at anne.purcell(at)usdoj.gov. ¶15. Zambia has offered to host the first meeting of Africomp at the ministerial level both to launch the project at the highest level and to obtain a political commitment from beneficiary countries. The ministerial meeting is tentatively scheduled for the first or second week of November 2009. ¶16. The US may wish to attend the ministerial meeting to ascertain the commitment level of the concerned nations, as well as the usefulness and effectiveness of this program. END COMMENT.