Africa Heads of Competition Dialogue have committed to expanding dialogue on how digital markets impact the local and global economy.
In a statement, the heads of competition from Nigeria, South Africa, Mauritius, Egypt and Kenya acknowledged that digital services are rapidly transforming the global economy and have opened new economic opportunities, challenging traditional markets.
"These markets present considerable challenges for competition law enforcement and policy in terms of the unique competition issues that arise," the statement read.
The Heads of Competition Authorities of the Egyptian Competition Authority, Competition Authority of Kenya, Competition Commission of Mauritius, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission of Nigeria and the Competition Commission of South Africa made the commitment during the Digital Markets Dialogue held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on February 17 and 18.
They noted that policymakers and competition authorities in leading economies across the world are reviewing their approach to regulation and enforcement in digital markets.
"Accordingly, as regulators on the continent, we are required to consider how digital markets impact on domestic participation in the local and global economy and the terms of that participation, beyond simply as a consumer of global tech firm services."
They called on African authorities to work more closely in sharing knowledge, developing capacity and mutual strategies and provide a stronger and collaborative approach in the regulation of digital markets.
The group agreed to collaborate on scoping the conduct in digital markets, researching barriers to emergence and expansion of African digital platforms, cooperating in the assessment of global, continental, and regional mergers, sharing information in accordance with existing laws and applicable protocols and sharing knowledge and build capacity to deal with digital markets.
