The high prices of basic necessities with its corollaries of social, economic and political crisis, the difficulties of access to essential services (drinking water, electric energy, sanitation, health care, decent housing, etc.), are just as many problems facing African consumer citizens in recent years. An effective consumer protection policy ensures the smooth functioning and efficiency of the single market. Its objective is to guarantee the rights of consumers vis-à-vis economic operators and to provide additional protection for vulnerable consumers.
While welcoming the adoption by the UN in 1985 of the United Nations Guiding Principles for the Protection of Consumers which set out the main principles of consumer protection, it is unfortunately clear that most African countries do not have framework consumer protection laws to ensure adequate consumer protection. In addition, the few countries that have them, they are not implemented.
The AUC, as a pan-African organization and federator of consumer organizations in Africa is actively working to promote the implementation of these Guiding Principles as well as international and regional treaties in favor of consumer protection. To do this, it works to strengthen the capacities of its members, the development of strong networking, the sharing of experiences and good practices and information, the promotion of frank and sincere dialogue with companies and establishment of frank collaborative relations with governments, regional, sub-regional and international institutions.
The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) recognizes the role of civil society in the fight against corruption under its article 13, calling on governments to increase transparency, ensure effective public access to information and also promote public participation in decision-making processes. There is no reason why our members cannot position themselves in this sector. Our action most often in this area are those of denunciations arrests and urges the authorities to take penal or regulatory measures to curb this scourge which visibly slows the development of Africa. UNODC strengthens the capacity and engagement of civil society, particularly in developing countries, by providing training to NGOs on the Convention and its review mechanism. UNODC also supports the engagement of civil society in intergovernmental meetings and provides the necessary tools for them to work constructively with governments and the private sector in the implementation of the UNCAC. The involvement of the UN organization in this sector strengthens the positioning of our members in the fight against corruption.
Telecommunications are now one of the breasts of our economies. The contribution of this sector can however be increased for inclusive growth of our economies and effective networking in our countries. In most African countries, consumer organizations are challenged by citizen consumers on the defective quality of networks and services, the very poor geographical coverage of the territory by operators who are concentrated in areas where demand is solvent, quality of terminals, lack of transparency in billing, weakness of regulatory agencies and lack of real competition in the sector. Faced with these challenges, UAC intends to play its proper role in promoting consumer access to this category of essential services and cross-cutting several essential services.
We take part in the design and orientation of policies in the sub-sectors of Agriculture, Nutrition, Food products (imported or not) and Safety - Hygiene. In addition to its advocacy actions with the aim of impacting government decisions on food, members most often organize decent field actions to verify the quality of products and the conditions of their display in stores. or places of sale. Adulterated or expired products are subject to destruction. The primary issue in food today is to manage to produce less dangerous products, the process of which integrates the aspect of sustainability for future generations and preservation of the environment.
Africa is the continent with lower financial inclusion indicators than the global average. The advent of mobile banking platforms raises great hopes for improving financial inclusion on the continent. In both cases, citizen consumers have less information about their financial transactions than the financial institutions providing them with these services. Many of these providers have used this information imbalance to their advantage, often favored by the lack or weakness of enforcement of regulatory texts intended to promote financial inclusion to increase their profits to the detriment of consumers. They often find themselves over-indebted, underinsured or unfairly overcharged.
The actions carried out by our members focus on advocacy with the public authorities in favor of the adoption or application of appropriate legislative and regulatory frameworks taking into account consumer expectations and the promotion of financial inclusion.