Registration is now open for our upcoming breakfast panel discussion hosted by BREMER, taking place alongside the ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting in Washington, DC.
Merger Control and Antitrust in Africa and the Middle
East
Thursday, 25 March 2026 " 8:30 – 11:00
a.m.
Astor Ballroom, Salon & Terrace — St. Regis
Hotel
923 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20006
The panel hosted by BREMER will feature senior representatives from competition authorities across Africa and the Middle East, offering insight into emerging trends in regulatory M&A, enforcement priorities, and evolving regulatory frameworks. If you are unable to attend in person, a remote access option will be available.
We are finalizing additional panelists from across Africa and the Middle East, who will add depth on regional priorities and enforcement developments.
A Snapshot of Recent Developments
2025 brought significant changes to regulatory regimes across the Middle East and Africa.
Effective April 2025 the UAE began enforcing its revised merger control regime featuring a new revenue-based notification threshold of AED 300 million alongside the existing 40% market share test, significantly increasing the number of transactions subject to review. This expanded scope has affected foreign-to-foreign deals and required careful planning around deal timelines and regulatory engagement. Saudi Arabia's competition framework continued to evolve in 2025. The GAC issued its 5th edition Merger Guidelines, clarifying notification thresholds and concepts such as change of control, while adjustments to FDI rules reflected an ongoing move toward comprehensive investment screening, though operational details remain under development. Iraq has taken first steps to establish an active merger control and antitrust regime.
Across Africa, competition and merger control regimes continued to mature and expand in 2025. The COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission further strengthened its role by broadening its consumer protection mandate and implementing a mandatory, suspensory merger control regime, significantly increasing compliance obligations for cross-border transactions. At the regional level, the East African Community began enforcing its long-anticipated supranational merger control framework, adding another layer of regulatory review for deals with a regional nexus. At the national level, the Moroccan Competition Council maintained an assertive enforcement posture, actively pursuing both merger control and behavioral antitrust cases, underscoring Morocco's position as one of the most active competition jurisdictions on the continent.
The increasing number of domestic regimes becoming active, as well as the growing interaction between domestic and regional regimes, continues to increase complexity for businesses with regional operations and cross-border deals. Companies and investors engaged in the Middle East and Africa have to consider an ever-broader web of regulatory obligations and procedures that affect operations, engagement with customers, suppliers, distributors, and competitors, and deal flows. Africa and the Middle East can no longer be an afterthought. They need to be a central consideration in business developments and deals.
This event will explore these developments and more, offering practical insights for businesses and advisers navigating regulatory requirements and cross-border transactions in these dynamic jurisdictions.
Further panelists and a full agenda will be shared in the coming weeks. Registration details for both in-person and online participation will follow shortly.
We look forward to welcoming you.