According to the entity, whose responsibility is to prevent and redress anti-competitive practices in the economy, it incurred a net loss of P13 million for the year ended March 31, 2024 and as of this date, total liabilities exceeded total assets by over P6.6 million. The Authority’s current liabilities exceeded current assets by P4 million. CCA executives stated in recent annual report that it received a P42 million subvention from government and a letter of support from the line ministry promising financial support for the next financial year. “These factors indicate the existence of doubt on the going concern status of the Authority,” executives revealed.
“However, the Authority has received a letter of support from the government of Botswana through the then Ministry of Trade and Industry confirming financial support for the next financial year,” they added. The directors further revealed that the current financial position has impeded the parastatal from implementing its Strategic Plan, which began in 2020. “At the current funding levels, the Authority has not been able to fully implement its Strategic Plan, with almost all the subvention received from the government being eroded by committed costs,” they revealed. “Engagements are therefore ongoing between the Board of Directors and the ministry regarding additional funding to ensure the Authority effectively executes its mandate.
In addition, the Authority put in place stringent cost saving measures to manage operations and continuously ensures that expenditure is aligned to budget.” “In making an assessment of the going concern status of the entity, the Directors have considered the letter of support from the government, which confirms that the government of Botswana through the Ministry of Trade and Industry, will continue to provide financial support to the Competition and Consumer Authority for the next 12 months from the date of signing of the financial statements in order for the Authority to continue as a going concern,” the executives revealed. During the year under review, the Authority received 59 mergers notices compared with 45 that were registered in the previous year.
This represents a 31% increase, which is attributed to the steady but slow increase in economic activity as the world economy slowly stabilised. In total, the Authority handled 71 mergers including 12 brought forward from the previous year. Fifty-eight mergers were approved unconditionally, while five were approved with conditions whereas one was rejected/prohibited.
