The Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) and Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 05 March 2021 in Windhoek that will see the two institutions collaborate on the sharing of data pertaining to activities of business establishments, especially those dealing in restrictive business practices and the competitiveness of industries.
The NaCC, in terms of its enabling legislation, deals with mergers & acquisitions; restrictive business practices, and economic research, and will therefore share related data and information with BIPA to ensure cross-compliance of the information provided by business entities. Equally, BIPA will make available data within its control that may be required by the NaCC to further enhance its role as a regulator in the competition arena. The sharing of key data will remain subject to the privacy and confidentiality provisions in the law.
“This strategic partnership will facilitate the NaCC in its strategic vision to conduct action-oriented research on competition to support competition regulation and policy development” noted Vitalis Ndalikokule, CEO of the NaCC
NaCC has developed a microeconomic database as a market intelligence tool and would therefore rely on BIPA to feed critical information to enable the database to become an effective tool.
Vivienne Katjiuongua, BIPA CEO stated during the signing ceremony that “Having regard to the distinct yet complementary mandates, it is clear that BIPA and NaCC cannot do without a smart and strategic partnership that will enable the sharing of data within their systems, subject of course to privacy and confidentiality as may be entrenched within Namibian Law.”
Data on a global level has become a much sought-after commodity and organisations now, more than ever value the use of data to design more targeted solutions and rely on data-informed decision making. This is the basis of the agreement between the BIPA and the NaCC.
The agreement will remain in force for an indefinite period or until such a time when another agreement supersedes the existing one.