Draft Vertical Restraints Regulations: what is an SPLC for purposes of section 5(1)?
African Antitrust
by Editor
1w ago
By Joshua Eveleigh On 03 June 2024, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (“DTIC”) published the draft Vertical Restraints Regulations (“Draft Regulations”) with the intention of providing a non-exhaustive list of factors to assist in determining whether a restrictive vertical practice, contravenes section 5 of the Competition Act, 89 of 1998 (“Competition Act”). The current framing of section 5(1) of the Competition Act is broadly framed in that: “An agreement between parties in a vertical relationship is prohibited if it has the effect of substantially preventing or lessening com ..read more
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“So Much Abuse”: Overhaul of Competition Law Shifts from ‘Buyer Power’ to ‘Superior Bargaining Position’ Abuse
African Antitrust
by Editor
2w ago
AAT discusses how the Kenyan antitrust watchdog, CAK, is seeking input on its recently released draft amendments By Joshua Eveleigh On 28 May 2024, the Competition Authority of Kenya (“CAK”) published a request for public comment on its ‘Draft Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2024’ (the “Amendment Bill”). The Amendment Bill seeks, most notably, to broaden the scope of the Competition Act to include ‘digital activities’ and to replace the recently included ‘abuse of buyer power’ prohibition with an ‘abuse of superior bargaining position. Digital Activities The Amendment Bill defines ‘digital activ ..read more
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“But did you really comply…?” Insights into Post-Merger Conditions
African Antitrust
by Editor
1M ago
Lessons drawn from the Constitutional Court in the Coca-Cola Appeal By Brandon Cole In a pivotal decision issued on April 17, 2024 by the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the case of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (Pty) Ltd against the Competition Commission has reshaped our understanding and enforcement of post-merger conditions in business transactions.  Stemming from a 2016 merger that led to the creation of “Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa” (out of four separate entities), the case underlines the complexity of adhering to merger conditions imposed to safeguard fair competition and o ..read more
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Combating inflationary pressure while avoiding price regulation: Nigeria’s FCCPC seeks consumer collaboration
African Antitrust
by Editor
2M ago
By Editor Under the aegies of its recently appointed acting Vice Chairman and CEO, Dr. Adamu Abdullahi, the Nigerian Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) today published a statement condemning the continuing consumer price increases in the country, despite the recent strengthening of the Naira currency. The agency was, wisely, quick to point out that “the FCCPC cannot directly regulate prices.” Yet, it promised to “utilise its existing legal framework to enforce fair competition and consumer protection provisions. This includes monitoring and investigating unusual pri ..read more
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A New Dawn for African Antitrust in Uganda
African Antitrust
by Editor
2M ago
By Guest Author, Simon M. Mutungi, Ph.D. Competition law first emerged in 19th century North America where it was known as antitrust law. Back then, large companies entered legal arrangements where they formed a trust that would hold and consolidate their property. They would then cooperate as a single group in various ways to maximize their profits at the expense of customers. To better understand the impact of such an arrangement, imagine you are a kid again back in kindergarten, preparing for a tag-of-war match and you have chosen the biggest and strongest colleagues as your teammates to co ..read more
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COMESA Snapshot: How have the COMESA Draft Regulations changed its competition regime?
African Antitrust
by Editor
4M ago
By Gina Lodolo & Tyla Lee Coertzen On 24 January 2024, the COMESA Competition Commission (the “CCC”) issued a press release requesting comments to its proposed Draft Regulations (as amended in November 2023) (“Draft Regulations”). The Draft Regulations contemplate an over hall of many key features of the CCC’s current competition regime, which has been in place since 2014. The Draft Regulations, importantly, make provision for the CCC to act as a consumer protection agency as well as an antitrust enforcer. While the consumer protection provisions have also been significantly bolstered, thi ..read more
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Whose interest is it anyway? CAK stresses ‘public interest’ in merger control
African Antitrust
by Editor
5M ago
Competition Authority of Kenya emphasises the role of public interest in M&A reviews By Joshua Eveleigh On 05 January 2024, the Competition Authority of Kenya (“CAK”) approved Nava Apparels L.L.C-FZ acquisition of the assets of Mombasa Apparel (EPZ) and Ashton Apparel (EPZ) on the condition that Nava retains all of EPZ’s 7019 employees on terms that are no less favourable than their current terms of employment. Notably, post-transaction the merged entity would have an insignificant market share of only 3.83% in the market for the manufacture of clothing apparel for export. Accordingly, the ..read more
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South African Competition Appeal Court releases its decision in respect of the Forex matter: The hindering of international cartel conduct or the inadequate presentation of a case
African Antitrust
by Editor
5M ago
By Tyla Lee Coertzen and Sarah van den Barselaar Introduction In our previous update on this matter, we reported on the South African Competition Appeal Court (“CAC”)’s second hearing of the Forex case. On Monday, 8 January 2024, the CAC handed down its judgement of the appeals brought by several national and foreign banks (the “Respondents”) against an earlier decision handed down by the South African Competition Tribunal (the “Tribunal”). The CAC’s decision comes eight years after the South African Competition Commission (“Commission”) commenced its investigation into various national and fo ..read more
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FCCPC leadership shake-up: Farewell to a Nigerian antitrust legend
African Antitrust
by Editor
5M ago
AAT is sad (but not surprised) to report that the new Nigerian government under President Bola Tinubu has sacked the legendary head of its competition-law enforcer, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Babatunde Irukera. His termination is with immediate effect. His pro tempore replacement at the agency will be Dr. Adamu Ahmed Abdullahi, as the next-in-command Executive Commissioner of Operations. While it is certainly not a shocking revelation that incoming administrations frequently shake up their senior agency leadership, it is nonetheless an objective loss to ..read more
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Nigeria & Single-Firm Conduct: FCCPC Smokes Monopolist with Largest-Ever Fine
African Antitrust
by Editor
5M ago
British American Tobacco faces $110 million fine for abuse of dominance in Nigeria, after settlement with up-and-coming antitrust enforcement agency By Nicola Taljaard and Nicole Araujo  About three years ago, in the summer of 2020, British American Tobacco Nigeria Limited and associated companies (collectively “BAT”) became the subject of an investigation by Nigeria’s then-brand-new Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (“FCCPC”). The FCCPC was looking into the potential violation of the Federal Competition ..read more
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