World Consumer Rights Day 2022 - The Role of Consumer Groups and their Efficacy

The Competition and Consumer Authority (CCA) will on 15th March 2022 join the international community in commemorating World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD). The CCA will celebrate the day under the national theme: The Role of Consumer Groups and their Efficacy.

Consumer groups/organisations/associations seek to advocate for consumer rights and to protect consumers from unfair business practices.  Recognising the state of development in consumer education, the Authority decided to come up with a national theme that is consistent with the current state and the vision to energise and resuscitate consumer groups in Botswana.

As part of celebrations for the day, the CCA host a virtual panel discussion to break down the theme. The panel of esteemed consumer rights personalities will comprise:

John Kapito - The Executive Director of the Consumer Association of Malawi- CAMA. John has won awards for his pioneering work in consumer activism in Malawi and beyond.

Joseph Selolo - The Company Secretary for the South African National Consumer Commission. Joe has extensive experience in consumer regulation.

Richard Harriman - Together with Kate Harriman, Richard is the founder of Consumer Watchdog, a consumer movement that boasts of hundreds of thousands of subscribers. The duo have been doing sterling work in consumer education in Botswana.

The WCRD celebrations will further take place in the form of five satellite convocations of consumer groups and CCA Staff in Ghanzi, Gaborone, Palapye, Selebi -Phikwe and Francistown.

Internationally, the theme for World Consumer Rights Day 2022 is: Fair Digital Finance, as announced by Consumers International; the membership organisation for consumer groups around the world.

The global consumer advocacy movement will call for fair digital finance for consumers everywhere. The movement will generate new consumer-centred insights and campaigns for digital finance that is inclusive, safe, data protected and private, and sustainable.

Digital financial services (DFS) comprises a broad range of financial services accessed and delivered through digital channels, including payments, credit, savings, remittances and insurance. It also includes mobile financial services.

According to Consumers International, by 2024, digital banking consumers are expected to exceed 3.6 billion. In the developing world, the proportion of account owners sending and receiving payments digitally has grown from 57% in 2014, to 70% in 2017. Digital finance brings new opportunities – but also new risks that can lead to unfair outcomes for consumers.