Source: 60pc of goods traded in Africa are counterfeits: Comesa – herald
Sikhulekelani Moyo
Zimpapers Business Hub
ABOUT 60 percent of goods traded in Africa are counterfeits, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Competition Commission has said, with nearly half (42 percent) being medicines.
Resultantly, over 100 000 people die annually, directly, due to the consumption of falsified medication in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This emerged during the Annual Consumer Conference in Bulawayo last week, which was organised by the Consumer Protection Commission.
The conference ran under the theme: “Combating Proliferation of Counterfeit Products for Enhanced Industry Competitiveness and Consumer Safety for the Realisation of Vision 2030”.
Africa’s growing challenge of fake products stems from a combination of economic factors like poverty and a growing middle class, weak enforcement due to porous borders and corruption, inadequate consumer awareness, and the exploitation of liberalised trade policies by counterfeiters.
These factors create a market ripe for cheap goods, and a lack of resources and technology makes it difficult for officials to stop the influx of fakes.
In Zimbabwe, counterfeit medicines pose severe health risks, while the fake products in general have significant economic damage to legitimate businesses and the national economy
In his presentation on CCC consumer welfare and advocacy, Mr Steven Kamukama, representing the CCC director, Dr Willard Mwemba, said counterfeit medicines were a serious problem, as they killed many people across the continent.
“The situation is bad in Africa. We have up to 60 percent of the goods traded being counterfeit, but 42 percent of that, in terms of medicine, is in Africa,” said Dr Mwemba.
“Now, medicine is a serious problem. If you look at what is happening, it kills directly . . . about 100 000 people in Africa, but also indirectly, it kills about 500 000 people simply because they are taking the wrong medicine.
“So, you take the wrong medicine, it fails to treat malaria, it fails to treat the other problem you have, and you end up dying just because you took the wrong medicine. Counterfeit is contributing to that problem.”
As such, counterfeit products are a double-edged sword as they affect economic growth and put consumers’ health in great danger.
Dr Mwemba also said an estimated 6 percent of electronics goods traded within Africa were counterfeits and contributed about 2,9 million tonnes of waste.
To tackle the challenge, CCC has since established the Comesa Competition Regulations, which provide for consumer protection and prohibit false and misleading representations.
Dr Mwemba said regulations also prohibited the supply of ineffective and unsafe products.
“So, what are the best practices? The best practice for us is to have in place an effective legal framework. In most cases, we have the laws in place.
“In some countries, some of the member states of COMESA don’t even have the law in place. We are happy that about five years ago, Zimbabwe enacted one. But we need a more effective law,” added Dr Mwemba.
“And where the law itself is not yet effective, we need to amend it to make sure that we capture the current dynamics. And the law alone is not enough.
“We also have to have effective institutions, with enough resources, with enough experts, technical experts, to be able to enforce the law.”
Zimbabwe’s consumer protection laws, primarily governed by the Consumer Protection Act of 2019, aim to ensure fair trade practices, protect consumer rights, and establish a transparent marketplace.
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