The Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) has launched a new Strategic Plan to effectively and efficiently deliver its mandate. The new Strategic Plan will run for a five-year period from 2021 to 2026.
Speaking during the launch of the strategic plan which took place on Friday 27th August 2021 in Lilongwe, CFTC Chairman, Dr. Jerry Jana said the Commission aims to effectively respond to the ever-changing business environment.
“The development of this Strategic Plan reflects the Commission’s commitment to ensure effective, efficient and responsive delivery of its mandate, mission, vision and goals. It is hoped that this Strategic Plan will effectively contribute to the attainment of the Government’s development agenda,” said Jana.
He added that among other targets earmarked to be achieved by 2026, the Commission wishes to digitalize its systems, increase its revenue streams, construct its own office complex, open regional offices in the North of Malawi and enhance its research and development.
The CFTC is mandated to regulate, monitor, control and prevent acts or behaviours, which are likely to adversely affect competition and fair trading in Malawi.
The new Strategic Plan replaces its precursor which ran from 2015 to 2020. The previous Strategic Plan mainly focused on four strategic pillars, namely: competition advocacy and mass awareness; market regulation and monitoring; competition and fair trading laws enforcement; and institutional capacity.
The new Strategic Plan, on the other hand, is rooted on five Strategic Pillars namely: Competition Regulation, Consumer Protection, Advocacy and Awareness, Financial Management and Sustainability and Corporate Governance and Management.
Under the previous strategic plan, the Commission registered a number of successes including, enhanced visibility of the Commission; improved market regulation; improved enforcement of the Commission’s decisions and competition and consumer protection law; and enhanced institutional capacity of the Commission.
Despite these successes, the Commission still faced challenges including inadequate human and financial resources to enable the Commission operate optimally; and absence of a digitized information management system for improved handling of complaints at the Commission.