The Competition Act of 1995: a Legal Analysis

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to undertake a broad analysis of the desirability or otherwise of instituting competition law in Zimbabwe and an analysis of the Act itself in an endeavour to ascertain whether or not technically it is good law. For one to effectively discharge this mandate it is essential that one starts with a broad overview of competition and antitrust policies and legislation in order to ascertain an ideal structure within which such a policy can be adopted for Zimbabwe. To this end a brief analysis of the Zimbabwean economic structure is essential in order to illustrate the flaws in that structure which would have to be combated by a competition law. It is also necessary to look at what can be considered to be generally acceptable characteristics of effective competition law. It is only after this has been done that one can specifically evaluate the enacted legislation. It will therefore be necessary before rendering judgement on the Act to undertake a comparative study of similar legislation in other countries with the objective of borrowing from the strengths of other legislation governing different jurisdictional entities. Interviews were conducted with various interest groups with a view to ascertaining the different perceptions of the new law.