a tripartite report - Unctad

216 VOLUNTARY PEER REVIEW OF CLP: A TRIPARTITE REPORT ON THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA – ZAMBIA – ZIMBABWE
126
corporations, companies, associations and other juridical persons, irrespective of whether created or controlled by pri-
or other entities directly or indirectly controlled by them”.
127 The stakeholders interviewed included the Judiciary, sector regulators, other statutory bodies, business associations,
128 The only remaining major Sate enterprise is the electricity company, ZESCO Holdings. According to the Energy Regulation
Board (ERB) during the interview with the sector regulator on 21 October 2011, there are however no immediate
plans of privatising the company, but to commercialise and unbundle it. The company’s statutory monopoly was removed
in 1998, and there are now a number of independent power producers (IPPs)
129 De minimus
of de minimis non curat lex, “the law cares not for small things”. Essentially it refers to something or a difference that is so
little, small, minuscule, or tiny that the law does not refer to it and will not consider it. In legal terms, the consequences
of an act in violation of a legal requirement may be considered so small that they do not justify pursuing legal action.
130 “Horizontal” agreements are those among competitor, which implicitly or explicitly restrict competitors’ ability to act
independently.
131 “Vertical” agreements refer to those between enterprises operating at different stages of the production and distribution
132
least 45per cent of that market; (b) it has at least 35per cent, but less than 45per cent, of that market, unless it can show
that it does not have market power; or (c) it has less than 35per cent of that market, but has market power”. Similar
provisions are found in the Competition Act, 2003 (Act No.2 of 2003) of Namibia.
133 The COMESA Competition Regulations provide in terms of Article 17 that “an undertaking holds a dominant position
in a market if by itself or together with an interconnected company, it occupies such a position of economic strength
as will enable it to operate in the market without effective constraints from its competitors or potential competitors”.
Section 2(2) of the Competition Act [Chapter 14:28] of Zimbabwe provide that “a person has substantial market control
over a commodity or service if: (a) being a producer or distributor of the commodity or service, he has the power, either
maintain the price of the commodity or service above competitive levels for a substantial time within Zimbabwe or any
substantial part of Zimbabwe; (b) being a purchaser or user of the commodity or service, he has the power, either by
maintain the price of the commodity or service below competitive levels for a substantial time within Zimbabwe or any
substantial part of Zimbabwe”.
134 nance
by one undertaking, it has not determined dominance thresholds under the Bank of Zambia Act, 1996 (No.43 of
1996) since the market is self-regulatory with no undertaking holding more than 30per cent market share (as submitted
135 As stated by Robert Anderson, Timothy Daniel, and Alberto Heimler, in the chapter on ‘Abuse of Dominance’ in A
Framework for the Design and Implementation of Competition Law and Policy (The World Bank, Washington, D.C. and
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Paris, 1999), exclusionary abuses are those in which
of its market power by charging excessively high prices to its customers, discriminating among customers, paying low
prices to suppliers, or through related practices.
136 As provided for in section 8 of the Competition Act of South Africa.
137 Peter Bamford, David Elliott, Russell Pittman, and Margaret Sanderson, in the chapter on ‘Mergers’, in A Framework for
the Design and Implementation of Competition Law and Policy. The World Bank, Washington, D.C. and Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Paris, 1999,
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product market and do not have vertical integration.
139 Horizontal mergers present the greatest danger to competition by the mere fact that they reduce the number of