A Paper Presented By: Leonard O. Ugbajah at the Final Workshop for the CUTS 7Up4 Project In West Africa held in Dakar, Senegal, 6-7 th August,

1. Introduction The economy… 2. Making a transition- the challenges 3. Competition law in Nigeria-the Egg that never hatches… 4. Understanding Government bureaucracy- a hydra or an octopus? 5. Major actors and vested interests 6. Towards an inclusive stakeholders-driven approach 7. Mobilising political support… 8. All or nothing? What options for developing countries

◦ Oil and gas dependent ◦ Relatively strong industrial base ◦ Agriculture is very important too ◦ Relatively strong financial services sector ◦ Same for telecommunications and IT generally ◦ Retail trading ◦ Annual growth rate of about 6% ◦ Annual GDP of about… ◦ Per capita income of about… ◦ Enormous potential human capital- population of about 150 million (144.7 million by the 2006 Census)

◦ Market Reforms in the absence of a competition policy/law – telecoms, power, oil and gas, broadcasting- prevalence of sector specific approach. ◦ Negotiating a difficult bend  The challenge of changing cultural attitudes  Technical capacity challenges-sound policies, effective implementation, institutional integrity.  Dealing with political interference -let’s kill all the politicians?  Competition policy and law was on the table from the onset.

Multiple Bills, lack of co-ordination… ◦ The Federal Competition Commission Bill, 2002 ◦ The Nigerian Trade and Competition Commission (NTCC) Bill, 2005 ◦ The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection (FCCP)Bill, 2009 ◦ Members Bills in the National Assembly

 A hydra or an octopus?  The Executive ◦ MDAS- FMC&I, BPE, MoJ, NIPC, NCC, CPC, etc  The Legislature (National Assembly) ◦ The Senate ◦ The House of Representatives ◦ The Committees  The Judiciary.  The Process of law-making in Nigeria

 Government Actors- what do they really want? ◦ The Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry (FMC&I) ◦ The National Council on Privatisation(NCP) /Bureau of Public Enterprise(BPE) ◦ The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) ◦ The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) ◦ Others.  Non-state Actors- little appreciation and interest ◦ Private sector- formal and informal sectors ◦ Civil society, consumer organisations ◦ The mass media ◦ Labour movements ◦ The Competition Law Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association

 What needs to be done- ◦ Ironing out the divergent positions of MDAs ◦ Well defined pro-development policy objectives while not sacrificing core principles and international best practices. ◦ Convincing the business community and consumer organisations of the importance of competition law. ◦ Building a private sector driven coalition for advocacy.

 Advocacy! Advocacy!! Advocacy!!!  How? ◦ Media trainings/sensitisation ◦ Sensitisation/lobbying of the law makers and their support staff – ‘targeting’ may be utilised to build a core of committed advocated within the legislature.  By whom? ◦ The private sector driven coalition. ◦ Donor support may be needed  Vested interests…the hawks wont let go easily. ◦ Politicians are businessmen- politics often triumphs economy! ◦ Vested business interests have well oiled lobbying machinery. ◦ But evidence based and strategic advocacy can swing the tide.

 Using sector regulators to enforce competition law in the absence of an economy-wide legislation and authority.  The Nigerian experience. ◦ Investment and Securities Act (ISA) of 2007 ◦ Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Act of 2002 and the Competition Regulations of 2008? ◦ Nigerian Energy Regulatory Commission (NERC) Act of 2005  The merits and demerits.  One step at a time, we’ll get there!