Think Tank, Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) is urging government to quicken efforts to pass the Competition bill to ensure efficient market practices.
The Think Tank explains that the absence of a Competition Law in the country has denied Ghanaians the opportunity to enjoy the best of goods and services on the market.
According to the Think Tank, 70 percent of African countries have competition laws but the closest Ghana had gone to enacting the law was the Protection Against Unfair Competition Act, 2000 (Act 589) which did not address the full dimension of a restrictive trade practices.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Stakeholders Consultative Meeting in Accra, the West African Regional Director of CUTS International, Appiah Kusi Adomako said the Law when passed will stimulate innovation as African countries move to trade on the African Continental Free Trade Area.
“We need competition laws to guide the conduct of the market because when businesses are competing and there is no law to guide them, some of the players can decide to do restrictive practices such as fixing prices and abusing their monopoly in the market,” he said.
“And competition law is the law that will handle all these things and from best practice perspective; Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement also requires all countries to have competition law and so we want to urge government to ensure that the bill is passed into law soon,” he added.