practices. The Government seeks to enhance the evolutionary velocity of the market and enhance the continuous adaptation of products, services and offerings to local and global pressures. It is the goal of this policy to: 1. Increase the population of competing companies by creating incentives for play, lowering the barriers to entry, reducing the cost of failure, and encouraging the trial of new ideas. 2. Encourage efficient and equitable access to public infrastructure to enable enhanced competition 3. Review the competitive environment for fair trade practices. Prevent unhealthy competitive practices through clear and strategically consistent regulations enacted in a timely and transparent manner. 4. Facilitate access to government business through non-discriminatory tendering criteria, and a deliberate preference for Kenyan owned business entities. 5. Maintain market integrity and competitive honesty by preventing and promptly punishing unfair and/or misleading market conduct. 6. Facilitate an open, responsive, regular and continuous dialogue between government, regulatory authorities and market players with a view to maintaining a responsive competitive environment. 7. Create a liberal licensing and registration regime to permit companies and entrepreneurs to fail quickly, with low cost. This will take the form of rules that allow companies to be licensed for certain services and only pay for the licenses when they commence operations or achieve benchmark goals within predefined time frames. There will be deliberate overallocation of provisional licenses to increase the number of license holders with the subsequent upgrade of provisional licenses to substantive licenses when defined targets are achieved. The regulatory authority will predefine and make public the total number of substantive licenses intended, when that target is achieved provisional licenses will be revoked. Equity Participation Ministry of ICT, Kenya The government strongly encourages Kenyans to participate in the ICT and Science & Technology sector through equity participation. It is the policy that only companies with at least 30% substantive Kenyan ownership, either corporate or individual will be licensed to provide ICT services. For purposes of this rule, companies without majority Kenyan ownership will not be considered Kenyan, and may thus not be calculated as part of the 30% Kenyan ownership calculus. Licensees will have 3 years to meet the local equity ownership threshold they may apply to the Cabinet Secretary for a one year extension with appropriate acceptable justifications. For listed companies the equity participation rules will conform to the then extant rules of the Capital Markets Authority. Consumer Protection The Government will: 1. Protect all Kenyan citizens from unfair, deceptive or fraudulent business practices, 2. investigate complaints , and promptly resolve 3. enforce the law and punish violators, 4. restore the rights, property and privileges of citizens where they have been violated, 5. Develop rules and regulations that maintain and ensure a free and fair marketplace 6. Educate consumers about their rights, duties and responsibilities. The consumer protection policy is intended to: 1. Protect consumers from hazards to their health and safety; 2. Promote and protect the economic interests of consumers; 3. Provide consumers with adequate information to enable them to make informed choices according to individual wishes and needs; 4. Consumer Education; 5. Provide a means for effective consumer redress and restoration of data, rights, property and privileges; 26/37 November-2019