Stakeholders Workshop

The Competition Authority held a successful National Stakeholders Conference at the Gaborone International Conference Centre on March 15, 2012. The conference brought together participants from various sectors, including business, agriculture, health, academia, labour, mining, law enforcement agencies, competition practitioners, media, as well as political and civic leaders under one roof.

The purpose of the conference was to provide an interactive platform between the Competition Authority and stakeholders. The conference, headlined Creating Wealth Through Fair Competition, was officially opened by the Minister of Trade and Industry  Honourable Dorcas Makgato-Malesu.

Speaking at the occasion, Minister Makgato- Malesu underscored the importance of competition in any economy saying that uncontrolled monopolies, cartels and other restrictive business practices are bound to have an adverse effect on trade, industrial and economic development.

“’Competition is the basis upon which all individuals in a society are given a platform to exercise their entrepreneurial ideas. These individuals’ collective efforts become part of the productive cycle and wealth in the society. Such wealth creating sources need to be facilitated through fair access to finance, business advisory services, government licensing and registration systems as well as fair dispute resolution,” the Minister said.

She told the conference that part of the reason why the Competition Authority was established was to ensure that firms, particularly small, micro and medium scale enterprises are not frustrated to enter the market through regulatory barriers and other behaviours of the incumbent firms.

When welcoming guests at the Conference the Deputy Chairperson of the Competition Commission, Mr Gaylard Kombani said the event was important in that it affords all the stakeholders an opportunity to seek clarification and insights on the needs, priorities and expectations of the different parties.

“The insights we hope to get from you are critical to informing and guiding our focus on safeguarding and on-going endeavours of business to gain market share, grow revenues, profits and shareholding value,” Kombani said.

Delegates had an opportunity to learn from the experience of the South African Competition Commission.

Mr Thembinkosi Bonakela, the Deputy Chairperson of the South African Competition Commission urged government and business to support the Competition Authority. He cautioned the Authority staff to remain professional and vigilant so as to earn the respect of all.

One of the presentations that raised a lot of animated discussion was by Professor Roman Grynberg’s  of BIDPA, on competition in Botswana’s poultry industry and franchising.

The Chief Executive officer of the Competition Authority Mr Thula Kaira led his team in explaining the mandate of the Authority to the participants such as mergers and monopolies, investigations and market research.