Victoria Falls Reporter
INDUSTRY and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha says the existence of a free trade in the African region is possible only when there is fair competition among businesses.

Speaking at the 1st Annual Competition and Economic Regulation (Acer) week for Southern Africa at Elephant Hills here on Friday, Bimha said fair competition was the cornerstone of free trade, a key element to meaningful regional economic growth.

He urged regional member states, completion agencies and regulators to promote fair competition as a catalyst for free trade initiatives.

“Competition is essential as it brings benefits to consumers by encouraging enterprise efficiency and widening of choice,” Bimha said.

He said it was through competition that people could buy goods and services at competitive prices and also contribute to national and global competiveness.

“Similarly, fair competition among businesses is the cornerstone of a free trade and is vital to the economic development in our region, playing an important role in promoting growth, efficiency and alleviation of poverty.”

Africa will in 2017 introduce a free trade area zone system, where countries will trade between and among each other with minimum challenges.

Bimha said Sadc signed the Declaration of Regional Cooperation in Competition and Consumer Policies in 2009 to address unfair business practices and promote cooperation.

Members have to foster cooperation and dialogue, facilitate capacity building and coordinate ways of dealing with regional effects of anti-competitive practices.

Bimha said Zimbabwe as a member of Sadc and Comesa, participates in formulation of regional competition policies, whose benefits are to deal with restrictive business practices of a cross border nature.

The country formed the Competition Authority of Zimbabwe to oversee issues to do with regional competition.

“Regional integration is an ongoing evolutionary process that has to be speeded up. This is stalled by harsh global economic realities, thereby making regionalisation and creation of the necessary environment for economic growth and development in Africa imperative,” he said.

Bimha said the region was facing challenges of restrictive practices, anti-competitive practices and poor corporate governance.

In light of these challenges, he added, Zimbabwe was cognisant of the public interest in the application of competition law.

The meeting was organised by the Centre for Competition Regulation and Economic Development and attended by speakers from the Competition and Tariff Commission, University of Johannesburg and other global institutions.

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