Africa: Antitrust/Competition Law

Africa's mobile technology market is undergoing significant regulatory transformation as telecoms authorities and operators advance reforms around spectrum allocation and next-generation connectivity. From Ghana's competitive 5G market opening to Nigeria's first telecoms policy review in over two decades, regulatory frameworks are being modernised to address data costs, service quality, and infrastructure deployment. These developments signal a shift where competitive advantage increasingly depends on spect

Market competition drives innovation and economic growth, but price fixing undermines these benefits by allowing businesses to collude and set artificial prices. In Nigeria's inflation-prone economy...

The Nigerian Communications Commission (“NCC”) has commenced a formal review of the Mobile Termination Rates (“MTR”) applicable within the Nigerian telecommunications sector.1 The review is an exercise aimed at reassessing the wholesale pricing framework that governs how telecom operators charge one another for terminating voice calls across networks.

Nigeria's merger approval framework has evolved from a fragmented system under CAMA 2020 and ISA 2007 to a comprehensive competition-based regime under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018. This analysis examines whether the Corporate Affairs Commission could have administered competition reviews, why sector regulators retain parallel jurisdiction, and what institutional reforms would resolve the resulting coordination challenges.

Moroccan merger control operates through a dual-track system where the Competition Council conducts competition-based reviews while the government retains exceptional powers to intervene on broader public interest grounds.

The European Commission has published a comprehensive report diagnosing the state of EU banking competitiveness and signaling the most significant policy intervention since Basel III completion. With European banks demonstrating strong capital positions but facing international competitiveness challenges due to market fragmentation and regulatory complexity, the report establishes competitiveness as a co-equal objective alongside financial stability. The gap between this July 2026 diagnosis and Q1 2027 legi

Nigerian competition law prohibits predatory pricing as an abuse of dominance, where businesses with significant market power deliberately sell below cost to eliminate competitors. While the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has yet to issue a published predatory pricing decision, the legal framework provides clear guidance on cost benchmarks, enforcement mechanisms, and substantial penalties for violations.

Competition authorities across Africa are intensifying enforcement through new merger thresholds, cartel investigations, and market studies targeting sectors from poultry to tourism. Recent developments include Egypt's expanded Competition Act penalties, Mauritius launching a cartel amnesty programme, and courts clarifying regulatory jurisdiction over financial institutions in Nigeria.

The European Commission has launched an antitrust investigation into Sanofi over allegations that the pharmaceutical giant abused its dominant market position through a misleading communication campaign disparaging a competitor's influenza vaccine. The probe examines whether Sanofi falsely portrayed CSL Seqirus' Fluad vaccine as scientifically inferior while promoting its own Efluelda product to healthcare professionals in Germany and France.