Competition Law

Webinar: Opportunities and Challenges of Regulating Digital Platforms through Competition Law in the Global South

In the recent past, discussion on the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) has intensified. As the discourse continues, the extent to which competition agencies in the Global South are regulating digital markets has received limited visibility. This is despite competition agencies such as India Competition Commission and the Competition Commission of South Africa having undertaken tremendous steps in the regulation of digital markets.

NEWS: 02.03.2023

The News and Events category publishes the latest News and Events relating to International Economic Law relating to Africa and the Global South. Every week, Afronomicslaw.org receive the News and Events in their e-mail accounts. The News and Events published every week include conferences, major developments in the field of International Economic Law in Africa at the national, sub-regional and regional levels as well as relevant case law. News and Events with a Global South focus are also often included.

Book Review: Populism and Antitrust: The Illiberal Influence of Populist Government on the Competition Law System By Maciej Bernatt (CUP: 2022)

This is a rich, well-structured and engaging monograph by an author who passionately yet systematically addresses the interrelationship between populism and competition law in the broader political and economic context. With this book, the author provides an informed take on the ‘back-sliding’ experience in two European ‘illiberal democracies’. The discussion of the most pertinent challenges as well as the proposed solutions are most illuminating not only for readers interested in East Europe but beyond. This book is a perfect companion in the universal quest for discovering the important role of competition law in the development of democratic societies founded on the rule of law and the challenges that may encounter along the way. Beyond informing the reader of the alarming back-and-forth quality of the competition system evolution, the author sets readers on the straight path of searching for solutions that ensure stability and resilience.

Problematising Dr Stewart’s ‘Competition Regimes in the Caribbean Community and Sub-Saharan Africa’ - Thinking not only Race but also Class

This blog post invokes the use of works by Mahmood Mamdani in painting a Mamdanian framework as a tool to understand the nature and historical continuities underlining colonial power in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. It proceeds to argue that beyond a 'race' angle to competition issues in the caribbean, there is also a 'class' angle, which may be more frontal than the 'race' angle.

Hopes for an Anti-Monopoly Agenda in the AfCFTA Competition Protocol

While the economic importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is now settled, this blog highlights the significance of having a bold competition protocol to ensure that the potentials of an open market system are actualized, by protecting the consumers and small scale suppliers.

The Emergent African Union Law - Conceptualization, Delimitation and Application. Eds. Olufemi Amao, Michele Olivier, Konstantinos D Magliveras

This edited collection of 24 Africa experts with diverse academic and practice focused backgrounds is divided into 5 parts and 24 chapters. The focus of the book is to establish African Union (AU) law as a focal point for the development of African countries. It provides a rich vein of scholarly literature which might not always be apparent to international researchers and practitioners. The ambition is to use regional integration law as a springboard for legal and socio-economic growth by avoiding national law failures that have undermined the development of the African continent.

How(Not) to Regulate Digital Markets: Lessons from the EU

The EU is often touted as providing an exemplary model for regional integration in the field of competition policy. It has indeed been successful in many ways – integrating diverse markets through strict anti-cartel laws, introducing an effective one-stop-shop merger regime in the 1990s, and tackling dominance steadfastly albeit less prolifically.However, given its experimentalist and ever-evolving nature, the EU competition regime is also bound to sometimes 'get it wrong'. In the author’s view, this statement holds true regarding the digital markets domain that was recently earmarked for regulation in the EU.