Skills shortage,  lack of funds affect CFTC

During the recent visit to Malawi, the Fair Competition Commision (FCC) of Tanzania, noted that the country is faced with skills shortage and lack of funds which hampers the work of enforcing competition and consumer protection laws.

FCC director general Fredrick Ringo made the remarks on the sidelines of a study tour organised by the commission last week in Blantyre.

He said there are inadequate people to enforce competition and consumer protection rights and there is a heavy reliance on government funds to support Commission for Fair Trade Commission (CFTC).

“It is about time CFTC  found other sources of funds besides government to enhance its core duties. We encourage the commission to build capacity of the people working in this field,” he said.

He commended CFTC for the relationship among the commission, government and major players in the trade industry in the country and the research done in various fields, which has enabled the commission to handle trade-related issues.

CFTC executive director Charlotte Wezi Malonda in response to FCC visit, said it created a platform for the two organisations to share and learn from each other’s experiences.

“We are indeed lagging behind in consumer rights, although we have made progress in some areas, such as the removal or banning of unwanted products on the market,” she said.

Malonda said the commission has, on the other hand, learnt a lot from FCC visit to Malawi.

“They have a robust system in place which they use to flush out unwanted products on the market, we will adopt the same in due course to protect our market. We will also put in place an empowerment act to empower locals to compete with big businesses,” she said.

While in the country, the delegation among other places visited Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (Mitc), Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS), Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra), Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and Ministry of Trade and Industry.