Our Banking & Finance, Competition & Antitrust, Mergers & Acquisitions and Trade partners in Johannesburg outline ten reasons to turn your attention to African trade and investment opportunities in the coming year. Some of these reasons include the rise in commodity prices, shifting patterns and alternative financing, digitization and competition law and enforcement.
The growth in demand for online retail services has led to extensive disruption in the Consumer Goods and Retail (CG&R) sector in Africa. Africa-based CG&R businesses have been adapting their digital operating models to keep up with demand, and multinational e-commerce organisations operating in the region are recording rapid growth. However, this digital expansion in the CG&R sector has numerous tax implications, both locally and regionally.
Regulators view competition policy as a key driver of economic growth. Although over the past two years African competition regulators have actively engaged in efforts to address pandemic-related challenges, there has also been a general upward trend in competition policy enforcement across the continent.
In recently published analysis Competition in the Digital Economy, Baker McKenzie competition law experts identified common themes related to merger control, abuse of dominance and cartel conduct in Africa, that point to the nexus between competition regulation and the digital economy.
Trade under the African Continental Free Trade area is now underway and 36 countries, and counting, have ratified the agreement. Countries including South Africa and Ghana are early beneficiaries of the agreement due in part to their existing customs infrastructure. The agreement has many benefits and is expected to drastically boost the continent’s post-pandemic recovery, but there are still many challenges to overcome.
COVID-19 has revealed the high value of personal data to businesses around the world, while also highlighting its susceptibility to abuse and attack. Countries have responded by reviewing their data privacy and protections laws.
Baker McKenzie recently produced a comprehensive guide covering latest developments in competition law in 25 African countries. The guide, titled An Overview of Competition & Antitrust Regulations and Developments in Africa: 2021, can be downloaded here.
In brief A new Rwanda Ministerial Order published in the gazette in December 2020, replacing the country’s transfer…
This first newsletter of the year sets out an analysis of the existing or upcoming rules to encourage the creation of start-ups in 10 French-speaking African countries (Algeria, Togo, Benin, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Gabon, Cameroon, Tunisia, and Chad).
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is one of the largest trading blocs in the world. The agreement establishing the AfCFTA has been signed by 54 out of the 55 member states of the African Union (AU), and ratified by at least 30 of them with 28 having deposited their instrument of ratification as of the date of this writing.