Malawi accuses firms of fixing prices
Malawi’s Ministry of Industry and Trade has accused some companies and traders of creating artificial shortages and colluding to fix commodity prices.
The ministry’s principal secretary Nerbert Nyirenda, in an interview on the sidelines of a one-day induction seminar on Competition Law and Policy in Lilongwe last week, said the conduct is retrogressive.
Nyirenda, however, said government instituted the Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) to address such malpractices for the benefit of the consumers.
“Conducts such as these reduce productivity and create inefficiencies thereby derailing growth of the economy,” he said.
He said CFTC’s job will be made easier if it gets total support from government departments, sector regulators, trade associations, civil society organisations, media institutions and all Malawians of goodwill.
CFTC acting executive director Charlotte Malonda said her organisation has already arbitrated in cases involving the Minibus Owners Association (Moam) when they wanted to increase fares.
“There are several cases that we are looking at, including the one to do with minibus fares. We are also looking at cases of some communication companies where some customers complained of misleading adverts,” she said.
CFTC board chairperson Felix Jumbe noted that since the commission was established in 2005, there have been increased cases of unfair trade practices as most businesspeople have not been complying with the law.
He said while the Act provides for penalties for offenders, it is not the commission’s intention to evoke the punitive provisions of the Act.
“Our main focus at the moment is to ensure that stakeholders are sensitised on the Act so as to achieve voluntary compliance,” said Jumbe.
He said the spirit of the Competition and Fair Trading Act is to motivate companies to exercise restraint with regard to anti-competitive and unfair trade practices.
Jumbe said competition among business operators is beneficial as it promotes economic efficiency, thereby generating lower prices, increasing choices of products or services for consumers and spurring economic growth in the process.
But he said since its establishment, the commission has made substantial progress in curbing anti-competitive and unfair trade practices by, among others, investigating proposed company takeovers considered to likely cause adverse effects on competition.
