COMESA overhauls competition law framework while adding consumer protection oversight

Significant changes to COMESA’s competition law framework are now in effect, after the COMESA Council of Ministers approved the COMESA Competition and Consumer Protection Regulations, 2025 and the COMESA Competition and Consumer Protection Rules, 2025 at its 46th meeting in Lusaka, Zambia last week.

With effect from 5 December 2025, the 2004 legal framework for the regulation of competition across COMESA has been repealed, replaced by the 2025 Regulations and Rules. The regional oversight body has been rebranded as the COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission, to reflect its expanded mandate, which now includes greater oversight of consumer protection alongside its traditional monitoring and investigating of anti-competitive practices within COMESA and mediating disputes between Member States concerning anti-competitive conduct.

Last week, the Council of Ministers convened in Lusaka at “a moment of renewed determination” to consolidate COMESA and accelerate implementation of an integration agenda, said Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe, COMESA Secretary-General.

Representing 21 African nations stretching from Libya and Egypt in the north to Zambia and Zimbabwe in the south, COMESA was formed in 1994 to develop resources and promote economic prosperity through regional integration. It now represents more than 640 million people, and generates more than $1 trillion in GDP. 

“The Secretariat remains firmly committed to executing its Treaty-mandated obligations, including coordinating regional programmes, monitoring implementation of decisions, and supporting Member States in driving sustainable economic and social progress through cooperation and integration.”

The competition law and consumer protection reforms aim to harmonise competition oversight across COMESA while enhancing business compliance and integrating consumer protection as a core mandate. Along with the rebranding of the COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission, key reforms include: 

• Introduction of a suspensory merger control regime where the Commission's approval is required before parties may implement a notifiable merger;

• Amendments to the definition of merger, the means of achieving a merger, what constitutes a notifiable merger, and updates to financial thresholds; 

• Codification of digital transaction thresholds, which will likely bring in more digital and platform deals, even if local turnover or assets are modest; 

• Establishment of the Commission as a ‘one-stop shop’ for conduct with a regional dimension, including an exclusivity rule preventing parallel national notifications for mergers that meet COMESA thresholds. 

• An extended public interest mandate for the Commission, including consideration of environmental protection or sustainability as well as innovation considerations when assessing whether a merger is likely to result in a substantial lessening of competition;

• A stronger conflicts rule with respect to matters with a regional dimension;

• Removal of the Appeals Board, with appeals against Commission decisions not going directly to the COMESA Court of Justice;

• An expanded procedural toolkit: power to conduct market inquiries, robust search and seizure, formal settlement process, interim cease and desist orders, and codified cartel leniency programme binding on Member States.

The reforms mark one of the most significant evolutions in regional competition law policy in Africa, say several experts including ENS, HSF Kramer, and Bowmans. 

“The new framework signals a clear move toward a more assertive, harmonised and modernised enforcement system, calibrated for cross-border commerce, digital-era business models and heightened consumer-protection priorities,” say Richard James Bryce and Nazeera Mia from Bowmans’ Cape Town office. 

“For businesses operating across the COMESA region, proactive compliance, early transaction planning and a deeper understanding of the COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission’s expanded powers will be essential.”

The COMESA Competition and Consumer Protection Regulations, 2025, can be read in full on the Commission website here.