Topic: Competition

The global trend to either introduce or enhance foreign direct investment (FDI) screening mechanisms in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic has shed a different light on the adoption of the SA FDI framework as part of the SA merger control regime.

On 1 September 2020, the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) ceased to accept physical antitrust and merger filings and will exclusively accept submissions through its e-filing portal.

On 28 June 2020, the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) adopted a leniency policy under the Egyptian antitrust regime.

On 5 June 2020, the Zimbabwean Minister of Trade and Commerce introduced new financial thresholds for the Zimbabwean merger control regime.

The COMESA Competition Commission (CCC) recently called for comments on how the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the COMESA merger control regime could be mitigated.

On 3 August 2020, the Namibian Competition Commission (NCC) prohibited the acquisition of Schwenk Namibia (Pty) Ltd (SN) by West China Cement Ltd (WCC) due to concerns of collusion in Namibian cement sector.

On 12 May 2020, the South African Competition Commission (the Commission) published its enforcement policy on the new buyer power provisions of the South African competition regime.

On 4 May 2020, the Kenyan Competition Tribunal (the Tribunal) overturned a number of the conditions imposed by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) on the Telkom Kenya/Airtel Kenya merger.

Since the inaugural market inquiry in 2006, the Competition Commission (the Commission), the South African competition authority, has completed a further four market inquires with another one currently ongoing.

On 24 June 2020, the Constitutional Court (the Court) handed down a landmark judgment allowing the Competition Commission (the Commission) to investigate and prosecute cartel conduct that ceased more than three years before the investigation started.