Jump the gun, bite the bullet: Consequences of failure to notify a merger in Africa

Article by Paul Coetser, Director & Head of Competition, and Sandiso Dhlomo, Candidate Attorney of Werksmans Attorneys, South Africa It is no longer a surprise that many, if not most, African countries now have competition laws. In addition, Africa has five regional economic areas with competition rules. In many of these countries and regional areas, […]
Competition laws proliferating across the African continent

An increasing number of African countries are strengthening their competition legislation by introducing new laws or amending existing ones. A number of regional competition regulators have also been established. These include the West African Economic Monetary Union, the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Economic Community of West African […]
Mozambique’s most recent changes to the Competition Law Regulation

Article by Daisy Nogueira, of Couto, Graรงa e Associados, Mozambique The Competition Law, approved by Law no. 10/2013, of 11 April, established the legal framework for competition in Mozambique and its respective Regulation was approved by Decree no. 97/2014(โCompetition Law Regulationโ).ย It establishes the market thresholds under which a transaction would be subject to prior […]
Antitrust Litigation in South Africa

The new Chambers & Partners Antitrust Litigation 2021 guide covers 18 jurisdictions. The guide provides the latest legal information on the basis for a claim, burden and standard of proof, class and collective actions, challenging a claim, disclosure and discovery, witness and expert evidence, damages, liability, remedies, funding and costs, and appeals. LEX Africa Chairperson, […]
The prohibition of the Burger King merger and the increasing importance of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment factors for South African competition law

Article by Pieter Steyn, Werksmans Attorneys – South Africa 1 The recent decision by the Competition Commission to prohibit the sale by Grand Parade Investments (“GPI”) of Burger King South Africa (“BKSA”) to private equity firm, ECP Africa is important because โ 1.1 the merger raised no competition concerns and the sole reason for the […]
Mozambican merger control regulation takes effect

Article by Telmo Ferreira of CGA Associados – Mozambique Resolution no. 37/2007, of 12 November approved Mozambique’s competition policy and provided for the creation of a competition authority, responsible for implementing competition law and the prevention, control and elimination of anti-competitive practices, particularly in the context of: (i) restrictive competition agreements (horizontal and vertical), (ii) […]
Constitutional Court weakens a key defence for respondents in historical competition cases

The recent decision by the Constitutional Court in the case involving the Competition Commission and Pickfords Removals has significant implications for respondents in historical competition cases, namely cases where the anti-competitive conduct ceased more than three years before the Commission initiated a complaint. Section 67 (1) of the Competition Act previously provided that a complaint […]
The approach of the COMESA Competition Commission to distribution, exclusive dealing, supply and other vertical agreements

1 The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) covers 21 countries namely Burundi, the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Sudan, Swaziland, Seychelles, Somalia, Tunisia Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The COMESA Competition Commission (“CCC”) has been operating since January 2013 and is one […]
Ten things you need to know about price gouging: The state of play in South Africa

The Competition Commission is aggressively pursuing any company alleged to have engaged in price gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has already entered into eleven settlement agreements and is engaged in prosecutions of four more companies. One of those companies, Dischem, is a prominent retail pharmacy brand in South Africa, with branches throughout the country. […]
Force majeure and supervening impossibility of performance

One of the major legal issues arising from the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has been the inability of parties to perform their obligations in terms of agreements to which they are party and the extent to which such failures can be excused, either in terms of contractually agreed provisions or South Africa common […]