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Antitrust law in Africa is growing at a rapid rate with the introduction of laws and regulations, increase in memberships to regional antitrust bodies and ramped-up enforcement by domestic and regional regulators. Since the beginning of 2018, domestic competition legislation has been enacted in Angola and Nigeria, and legal developments are in progress in Madagascar.

Outside of the introduction of entirely new laws in certain jurisdictions, there have also been significant amendments to existing legislative regimes in a number of countries, including Egypt, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Africa’s competition regulators are also gaining momentum and becoming more sophisticated in the analysis of mergers and understanding of horizontal conduct.

Businesses transacting in Africa that have not already done so should be rolling out internal training programs and measures to ensure they are prepared for the continuously developing national and regional competition laws and regulations.

As such, this guide, An Overview of Competition and Antitrust Regulations in Africa, has been compiled by the Competition & Antitrust Africa team and the Firm’s African Relationship Firms across the continent, in order to provide insight into the numerous competition law and regulatory developments in 25 countries in Africa. This publication engages with these developments at a domestic level, itemizing relevant amendments and approaches of competition authorities on topical issues.

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Lerisha Naidu is a Partner in Baker McKenzie's Antitrust & Competition Practice Group in Johannesburg.

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Angelo Tzarevski is an associate director in Baker McKenzie’s Antitrust & Competition Practice Group in Johannesburg.

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Sphesihle Nxumalo is an associate in Baker McKenzie's Antitrust & Competition Practice Group in Johannesburg. He is part of a multi-firm, multi-jurisdictional team that won the Global Competition Review 2020 Award for Merger Control Matter of the Year for Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Sphesihle's experience spans the entire spectrum of antitrust and competition law across all African jurisdictions. He advises and represents blue chip multinational companies on high value and complex merger transactions, as well as on antitrust litigation relating to abuse of dominance, cartel conduct and vertical restraints. He has a wealth of experience in Industrials, Manufacturing and Transportation (IMT), Healthcare, Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT). In particular, he has acted for clients in diverse industries including healthcare and pharmaceuticals, banking, private equity, automotive, petroleum, mining and construction, aviation, consumer goods and telecommunications.

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Celine Zeebroeck is a special legal counsel in the Washington, DC office of Baker McKenzie. Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. van Zeebroeck spent three years as an associate in the Brussels, Belgium office of an international law firm. During that time, she worked as a commercial litigation and transaction lawyer focusing on IP and antitrust matters. After attending law school, Ms. van Zeebroeck worked for the Ministry of Justice and a human rights professor in Chile for six months.

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Fabien Hecquet is an Associate in Baker McKenzie's Paris office.

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Adrian Gonzalez is a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions department at Baker McKenzie Paris and spends most of his time supporting the Casablanca office. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, he practiced in other law firms, namely, August & Debouzy (Paris), Stibbe Simont Monahan Duhot (Amsterdam), Salès Vincent Georges et Associés (Paris), Grant Hermann Schwartz & Klinger (New York), and Bryan Gonzalez Vargas, Gonzalez Baz (Mexico).

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Hania Negm is an associate at Helmy, Hamza & Partners, Baker McKenzie Cairo. She focuses her practice on antitrust and competition law, international commercial law and trade, and compliance and investigations. Prior to joining the Firm, she worked at the Egyptian Competition Authority, where she was involved in numerous competition law cases across several sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, automotive, food and beverage, information and communication technology, sports media rights, and entertainment. She was also involved in assisting the committees drafting internal regulations and draft laws.