In February 2026, the Iraqi Competition and Antitrust Council (CAC) issued their Guideline on Mergers and Restrictive Commercial Practices.

On 13 January 2026, the COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission (CCCC) issued Practice Note Number 1 of 2026 (Practice Note), providing guidance on the operation of the new regime.

The Saudi General Authority for Competition's (GAC) has over the past years substantially increased enforcement of the Kingdom's antitrust and merger control rules.

The UAE's new Executive Regulations to the Competition Law introduce significant clarifications on predatory pricing, establishing that such conduct may be prohibited independent of market dominance. The regulations provide structured cost benchmarks for assessment, distinguishing between pricing below average variable cost and pricing between variable and total costs, while outlining factors authorities will consider when evaluating anticompetitive intent and commercial justifications.

The UAE's competition regime has undergone a significant transformation with Cabinet Resolution No. 59 of 2026, introducing Executive Regulations to Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2023. These regulations establish a detailed procedural framework for obtaining individual exemptions and implementing block exemptions, while moving the assessment of dominance beyond purely market share-based approaches to require broader economic analysis of market power.

In October 2024, the regional merger control regime for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) came into effect. Since than the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA) accepts filings...

In recent years, the landscape of competition enforcement in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has witnessed increased emphasis on inter-agency cooperation.

The Moroccan Competition Council (MCC) published its activities report for 2024. The report outlines the MCC's enforcement activities, merger reviews, investigations, and advisory work.

Effective October 2024 the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) introduced a merger control regime as part of their continued affords of building a common market.

On 13 June, the Saudi Council of Ministers chaired approved the Kingdom's new Civil Transaction Law, after the law had been cleared by the Consultative Assembly (Shura Council) in May 2022. With the new law the Saudi legislator introduced a comprehensive overhaul of the Saudi legal system.

In April 2025, the UAE introduced a major reform to its merger control regime by introducing new revenue-based threshold that apply alongside the existing market share threshold.

The East African Community (EAC)—the regional economic community made up of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda—start enforcing their merger control regime on 1 November 2025.

The East African Community (EAC)—the regional economic community made up of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda...

Licensing agreements occupy a structurally ambiguous position in merger control, sitting between asset acquisitions and ordinary commercial contracts. This client brief examines how European Commission precedent may inform the treatment of licensing agreements under the COMESA merger control regime, given the limited guidance and decisional practice from the COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission.

The ancillary restraints doctrine, originally developed by the European Commission, validates restraints objectively necessary to implement legitimate transactions with neutral or positive competitive effects. This analysis examines how Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, and Tunisia approach ancillary restraints in economic concentrations, revealing significant jurisdictional variations in regulatory frameworks and enforcement practices across the Levant and North Africa region.

Morocco regulates financial firms and institutions through a several statutes with changing regulatory authority.

In February 2025, the Saudi General Authority for Competition (GAC) granted conditional approval for a transaction. This marks the third time that they imposed remedies, since the Kingdom's new merger control.

The ancillary restraints doctrine, developed by the European Commission, validates restraints objectively necessary to implement legitimate transactions with neutral or positive competitive effects.

The UAE Competition Department has published its first comprehensive Guidelines on Relevant Market Definition, providing businesses with crucial clarity on the analytical framework used in competition assessments. These guidelines are particularly significant for merger control, where defining the relevant market is essential to determining whether a mandatory filing obligation exists under the UAE's unique threshold requirements.

Resale Price Maintenance (RPM) refers to arrangements whereby a supplier, manufacturer, or licensor sets a minimum for, or otherwise restricts the price at which downstream distributors or retailers may resell goods or services.