Rationale for the Project

A functional competition regime consists of a national competition policy and a competition law implemented by the competition authority. Ghana has made few attempts in the past to develop a competition law but that process did not succeed due lack of support from key stakeholders and buy-in of policymakers and senior government officials.

While it was expected that lessons would have been derived from the earlier failed attempts, it seems the same might not have been done. If an intervention fails to come from a CSO which has enough experience in the subject matter, inaction will result in another policy document which would not be able to address the challenges. Hence CUTS involvement in this project is strategic and timely. In other word the issue at stake is perishable and if we fail to intervene at this opportune time, most likely that there will be no second chance again for this intervention. William Shakespeare has captured it beautifully that: “there is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.”

CUTS understands that BUSAC is a fund established to contribute in developing the enabling business environment for business/private sector to thrive in a country like Ghana. It is well established now that a competition framework (marked by the adoption and implementation of a functional competition law and policy) is an integral part of such an enabling business environment.