Competition law developments in Africa continue to be closely
monitored globally. Regional competition law in Africa took the
spotlight in 2013, with the COMESA Competition Commission (the
"CCC") commencing operations on 14 January 2013.
The CCC's initial year was not without serious
challenges.
In particular, the international business and legal community
raised concerns about the merger filing thresholds being set at nil
and the high filing fees payable for merger notifications to the
CCC; certain regulators within the COMESA region itself have not
accepted the CCC as a "one stop shop" for merger
notifications; and the COMESA Competition Regulations (the
"Regulations") are dated and unclear in many respects,
making their interpretation and application problematic.
