Consumer Protection Law and Regulations

South Africa's National Consumer Commission Opt-Out Registry introduces a dual compliance framework that requires organisations to satisfy both POPIA's personal information processing requirements and the CPA's pre-emptive marketing blocks. Businesses must fundamentally restructure their technology, data management, and operational processes to prevent prohibited marketing communications from reaching consumers who have exercised their right to opt out.

The European Union's AI Act introduces mandatory watermarking requirements for AI-generated content, creating compliance obligations that extend beyond EU borders to affect Nigerian businesses using global AI services. This analysis examines how these transparency requirements intersect with Nigeria's existing regulatory framework and highlights the need for comprehensive AI governance legislation.

The European Commission has imposed a €550 million fine on AliExpress for Digital Services Act violations, marking the largest penalty under the DSA to date. The decision reveals critical failures in risk assessment methodology, moderation resourcing, and enforcement of seller penalties that allowed illegal products to proliferate on the platform. This landmark case establishes new compliance expectations for marketplaces regarding systemic risk management and operational controls.

ENS in Namibia recently hosted a trial advocacy training workshop for law students participating in the University of Namibia's annual moot court competition. Led by Adv. Deon Obbes SC...

The African Organisation of Intellectual Property (OAPI) has initiated its fourth Africa GI Training programme in Abidjan, bringing together participants from 13 member states to develop expertise in geographical indications. This capacity-building initiative combines theoretical learning with practical application to strengthen the protection and promotion of local products across the continent. The programme represents a strategic effort to leverage geographical indications as instruments for economic dev

Nigeria's development trajectory depends critically on modern legal frameworks that can attract investment, reduce risk, and create the institutional certainty necessary for economic transformation. This analysis examines how deliberate legal reform in sectors like electricity, education, healthcare, and infrastructure can serve as strategic tools for industrialization, drawing lessons from China's reform architecture and Rwanda's regulatory overhaul.

ENSafrica's latest legal bulletin examines critical regulatory shifts across Africa, from South Africa's mandatory monthly opt-out cleansing under amended CPA rules to Rwanda's new VAT framework for cross-border digital services. The collection addresses constitutional interpretation in Ghana, AI policy governance failures, merger threshold updates, and emerging challenges in crypto regulation and prediction markets.

On 15 March each year, the global community celebrates World Consumer Rights Day.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently published a draft Internet Code of Practice (the "Code"), aimed at promoting a safer and more responsible internet environment for consumers.

The Court of Justice of the European Union has issued a preliminary ruling in Case C-427/24 Diagramm Halbach, establishing critical principles for determining whether products qualify as medical devices under the EU Medical Device Regulation. The judgment clarifies that manufacturer advertising alone does not determine medical device status, and that products must objectively perform medical purposes to fall within the regulatory definition.

The European Parliament's draft report proposes over 130 amendments to the Commission's plan for overhauling medical device regulations, introducing new categories like "niche" devices while expanding coordination mechanisms between EU authorities. These changes aim to balance regulatory simplification with patient safety, potentially reshaping how medical devices and in vitro diagnostics are classified, assessed, and brought to market across the European Union.

In particular, the Commission held that the platform failed to assess staffing requirements for the review of potentially illegal products, how its advertising systems were contributing to the proliferation of illegal products, and how well its systems prevented the risk of illegal products appearing or being re-listed.