Strengthening Constituencies for
Effective Competition Regimes in
Select West African Countries
(7Up4 Project)
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Presentation at NRG-I Meeting
September-October 2008
Launch Meeting, 19-20 June, Accra
Project Features

Countries – Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Ghana,
Mali, Nigeria, Senegal & Togo

Duration – 24 months

Components – Research, Dialogues & Advocacy,
Networking, Training

Approach – Research-based advocacy through a
participatory process

Beneficiaries – Civil Society, Government &
Business Community
Project Objectives








Evaluate obstacles to evolving national competition
regimes
Develop capacity of national stakeholders to appreciate
competition concerns
Establish communication channels between civil
society-business-government
Provide inputs into evolving competition legislations
Elucidate linkage between competition and other public
policy issues
Identify a core group of national stakeholders with
aptitude for competition and regulatory policy issues
Develop linkages between national stakeholders and
global networks/coalitions
Promote a healthy competition culture
Outputs





Enhanced knowledge on competition policy and
consumer welfare
Accelerate evolution and implementation of
national competition regimes, with civil society’s
inputs
Continuous dialogue between government-civil
society-business community on economic and
regulatory policy
Credibility of civil society organizations asserted
as ‘actors’ in national competition reforms
The international community made aware of the
need to promote a healthy competition culture in
country/region.
Outcomes



Profile of competition policy within the context of
national development raised.
Process to establish effective national
competition regimes, evolved.
Promotion of a healthy competition culture in
countries/region.
Activities
Groundwork: Preparation, Partnerships, Launch Meeting,
Research: Analysis of the state of competition in project
countries (legal, policy and practice)
 Specific Research Areas: political economy constraints,
natural monopolies, agriculture markets, national Vs regional
competition legislation, competition perception analysis
 Research Outputs: PCP, CRR, Perception Assessment
 Advocacy and Dialogues: NRG meetings (periodical, output
oriented) – policy advocacy
 Trainings: National and Regional
 Outreach: Information dissemination within countries, region,
international level (articles, e-newsletter, postings,
representations, networking)


Sequence of Activities
Phase(s)
Main Activities
Period (Months)
Preparatory Phase
Preparation
of Operational Strategy Note (OSN)
Identifying the Project Advisory Committee (PAC)
Preparation of draft Preliminary Country Papers (PCPs)
Launch Meeting
June to August,
2008
Research Phase

NRG Meetings I (one in each country)
 Finalisation of Preliminary Country Papers (PCPs)
 Initiation of the draft Country Research Report (CRRs) preparation
September 2008 to
May 2009
Research Phase
(contd.)
Analysis
June to November
2009
National
Dialogues
NRG
Meetings II (one in each country)
NRG Meetings III (one in each country)
August 2009 to
March 2010
Training
Workshops
Regional
Training workshop (Anglophone region)
Regional Training workshop (Francophone region)
National Training Workshops (one in each country)
November 2009 to
March 2010
Information
dissemination
Quarterly
Throughout the
project
of political economy constraints in implementing competition
regimes
Assessment of natural monopolies and their implication on competition
vis-à-vis economic development and consumer welfare
Field work including perception surveys
Competition issues in 2-3 agriculture products market and impact on
welfare, poverty and/or growth
Finalisation of Country Research Reports (CRRs)
Interim Review Meeting
E-newsletter
Dissemination of reports and other project outputs
Research Phase
Preliminary
Country Papers (PCPs) – base paper on
the state of competition regimes in countries
Country
Research Report (CRR) –
- Social and Economic policies affecting competition
- Political Economy Constraints
- Nature of Market Competition
- Sectoral Policies (and institutions) and Competition
- Competition in select agro-products market
- Natural Monopolies and Competition
- National Vs Regional Competition Legislation
- Competition Perception Assessment
Periodical review and refinement of the PCP and CRR
before finalisation by project team and interested
NRG members
National Dialogues and Advocacy
Identifying
a group of key national stakeholders (NRG)
NRG: review project outputs, provide feedback, policy
advice
NRG Meetings
- NRG-I: Introduction to project + Discuss PCP findings
- NRG-II: Discuss the Draft CRR + Identify training needs
- NRG-III: Review the project outputs and deliberate on
the ‘way ahead’
Identifying
specific policy advocacy issues based on
research findings (evidence based policy advocacy)
Trainings

2 Regional & 7 National Trainings

-
Trainings
-
Duration: 3 days
Agenda: need-based and demand driven
Participants: Multi-stakeholders (national) and
Practitioners (regional)
Resource Persons: Experts and Scholars (international)
Topics: Basics of Competition Policy and Law,
Competition Analysis, Competition enforcement (VR,
HR, AoD, Cartels, etc.), Competition & Sectoral
Regulation, Competition and Consumer Protection
Outreach






E-newsletter (news and project progress)
Occasional publications – briefing papers,
policy briefs, articles (newspaper, CUTS
newsletter, etc.)
Representations in international events
Reference in papers, research work, etc.
Personal communications, group
discussions on relevant issues
Circulation of project report, etc., globally
Management & Administration





Overall responsibility – CUTS (Project Team)
Guidance – Project Advisory Committee (PAC), Project
Adviser
Research guidance – Research Adviser
Country-level Activities – Country Partners
Coordination – CUTS HQ + CUTS Africa Resource
Centres in Kenya and Zambia
Thank You
Rijit Sengupta
Email: rsg@cuts.org
Web: www.cuts-ccier.org
Phone: +91 98292 85928