The Cooperation on Competition Policy under the African Continental Free Trade Area

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vellah Kedogo Kigwiru
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Competition Policy ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Area

Designing an AfCFTA-Driven Continent-Wide Competition Policy Around the Regional Economic Communities

2021 ◽  
pp. 0003603X2110457
Author(s):  
Fiona Okadia ◽  
Emmanuel Wa-Kyendo ◽  
Melody Njeru ◽  
Darmi Jattani ◽  
Leo Kemboi
Keyword(s):  
Mergers And Acquisitions ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Competition Policy ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Fair Competition ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
Policy Proposals

Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement will lead to liberalization of trade in Africa, thus expanding the market for African products and services. Expansion of markets necessitates development of a regulatory framework that will promote healthy competition among businesses and protect consumers’ welfare. The Agreement recognizes this fact and has set out the Competition Protocol among the key enablers of its success. Since the regional economic communities (RECs) are the building blocks of the continental wide free trade area, the analysis of their regional competition regime is paramount for providing insight that will guide the development of the Competition Protocol. This article responds to this need by analyzing Africa’s four largest RECs and providing policy proposals on how the continental competition policy should be fashioned. Specifically, this article looks at the RECs’ institutional structure, principles, and carries out a legal, economic, and political analysis on the same. It examines how these laws relate to the three elements (abuse of dominance, anticompetitive mergers, and acquisitions) of competition policy and the challenges that they pose in achieving AfCFTA’s goal. It also looks into the challenges that affect trade and fair competition in the region. Finally, it offers proposals on the competition framework that bridge the gap between the AfCFTA Agreement objectives and the African economic, political, and legal realities.

The Coca-Cola Company/Coca-Cola Beverages Africa Merger: Lessons for Robust Regional Competition Enforcement

2021 ◽  
pp. 0003603X2110454
Author(s):  
Grace Nsomba
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Competition Policy ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Integral Role ◽  
Competitive Rivalry ◽  
Opening Up ◽  
Competition Enforcement

This article uses the Coca-Cola Company/Coca-Cola Beverages Africa merger to illustrate the important role that competition policy should continue to play in the regional and continental integration agenda. The case provides an illustrative example that the structure and reach of firms play a pivotal role in the dynamics of value chains, as well as on the extent to which market power can potentially be exerted within and across countries. Competitive rivalry is necessary for innovation and lower prices, but the playing field needs to be leveled in order for entrants and smaller rivals to make and realize investments, build capabilities, and participate effectively. Competition reforms that take a bottom-up approach and account for the varying levels of development of countries play an integral role in opening up markets for entrants and small rivals, which in turn allow for the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area to be realized.

Recent Developments in the Regulation of Investor-State Dispute Resolution: Any Lessons for the Southern African Development Community?

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 180-204
Author(s):  
Lawrence Ngobeni ◽  
Babatunde Fagbayibo
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Southern African Development Community ◽  
African Union ◽  
Foreign Investments ◽  
African Development ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Recent Developments

Abstract In 2016, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) amended Annex 1 of the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investment (FIP) in order to remove investor access to international arbitration or Investor-State Dispute Resolution (ISDS). The recent formation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (T-FTA) are factors that will likely curtail SADC’s ability to regulate foreign investments. Both AfCFTA and T-FTA are supposed to have their own investment protocols. This means that SADC faces the loss of regulatory authority over foreign investments. The recent formation of the Pan African Investment Code (PAIC) has shown that some African Union (AU) Member States want to provide ISDS for their investors, while others including SADC Members States do not. This article intends to evaluate the lessons SADC can learn from other jurisdictions in terms of the effective regulation of ISDS.

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