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.