Luanda - The Competition Regulatory Authority (ARC) registered 55 infractions in different sectors of national economic activity, during the first five months of this year, the Secretary of State for Finance and Treasury Ottoniel dos Santos said Thursday.
During 2023, the entity registered 33 complaints.
However, of the criminal actions in the first five months of 2024, one was condemned and the remaining infractions follow legal procedures, from the regulators of the respective sectors, according to the government official who spoke as part of the third edition of the National Forum. of Regulators.
ARC is a body assigned to the Ministry of Finance to ensure compliance with market rules and conditions.
In this sense, the source warned operators to pay attention to competition aspects when considering a purchase, merger and acquisition of shares, in order to avoid embarrassment during the regulator's action or inspection.
He mentioned that this institution's mission is to ensure that there is neutrality and the price structure is the most appropriate and fair for the end consumer, making, above all, the market economy healthier, more robust and capable of attracting private investment.
To this end, he stressed, the State has been decreasing its participation as an economic agent in recent years, positioning itself in coordination and market regulation actions.
As for the national forum, he considered the event an opportunity to share experiences and create mechanisms that allow safeguarding the interest of competition, with a view to boosting the national economy in transition, “in an environment without distortions caused by concentrations”.
“Before completing a sale, ARC is responsible for ensuring that the resources are not purchased by entities that could constitute a concentration or monopoly over a given economic sector”, he said, explaining that this entity acts, in a preventive manner, in the process privatization of State assets or holdings.
In turn, the president of the ARC Board of Directors, Eugénia Pereira, said that the 33 infractions from the previous year are being treated appropriately with the initiation of proceedings, in-depth inspection and/or audit.
The objective is to provide a balanced market with equal rules for all operators, in a process whose fines vary between one percent and 10% of turnover, depending on the practice.
The director of the Center for Economic Research at the Lusíada University of Angola, Heitor Carvalho, defended the operational independence of the regulator, with a view to protecting less strong competitors and consumers in the face of natural monopolies.
The National Regulators Forum is part of the celebrations of the sixth anniversary of the entry into force of the Competition Law and marks six years of implementation of this policy in the country. OPF/VC/DOJ
