CCC TO ENFORCE ANTI-COMPETITIVE BUSINESS PRACTICES

LIVINGSTONE, ZAMBIA – COMESA Competition Commission (CCC) Director Boniface Makongo says they are currently working on enforcing anti-competitive business practices in the region.

Makongo said the commission’s enforcement priorities are promoting and encouraging competition by preventing restrictive business practices and other restrictions that deter the efficient operation of markets. Makongo was making his presentation during the 18th Business Reporters Workshop held in Livingstone, Zambia. The COMESA Competition Commission is a regional body established under Article 6 of the Regulations made under the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Treaty.

Monitoring

The commission’s core mandate is to enforce the provisions of the regulations, with regard to trade between member States and promote competition within the common market, through monitoring and investigating anti-competitive practices of undertakings and mediating disputes between Member States concerning anti-competitive conduct. He said vertical agreements continue to be assessed under the rule of reason framework to ensure that conduct which cannot be economically justified does not prevail in the market.

He highlighted that the commission observed territorial restrictions to be a common factor in such agreements, and these are harmful to the attainment of regional integration, because they restrict the actual movement of goods across borders. Makongo said as part of their enforcement, they were going to see an overhauling of the COMESA merger control regime, from non-suspensory to suspensory. He said merging parties will no longer be allowed to implement a merger without approval from the commission. He said the overhauling also speaks to harmonisation with international best practices and regime adopted in most member States.

Acquisitions

He said they will also be introducing thresholds for digital markets to prevent ‘killer acquisitions’ falling under the commission. Makongo added that in any merger notifications they will be providing for expansion of public interest considerations in merger assessment. He said the new regime expected to be in place by end 2024.

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