The Namibian Competition Commission (“the Commission”) was established in terms of section 4 of the Competition Act (Act No.2 of 2003) (“the Competition Act”). Its mandate is to promote and safeguard competition in the Namibian economy. The Commission achieves this through investigation and referral of anti-competitive activities to court, review and adjudication of mergers and exemption applications, the conduct of research and market studies in furtherance of the mandate of the Commission and disseminating information to businesses, consumers, and other stakeholders.

Competition law is an important tool in promoting access to markets, including the market for health care.  Furthermore, the Commission has identified the health care market as a priority market and part of its business strategy is, to create awareness and advocacy activities to inspire competition compliance in the health care market.

Against this background, the Commission is in the process of reviewing the Competition Act for effectiveness and to strengthen enforcement and has therefore developed a draft Bill considering:

• Developments and changes that have taken place in the fields of competition law, economics, and policy nationally and internationally.
• The Competition Policy (approved and launched during 2021).
• Challenges that the implementation of the current Act presents, based on the experience of divisions of the Commission (including the Enforcement, Exemptions and Cartels Division, the Mergers and Acquisitions Division, the Economic & Sector Research Division, and the Office of the CEO to the Commission).