Antitrust Regulation

In the recent past, discussion on the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) has intensified. As the discourse continues, the extent to which competition agencies in the Global South are regulating digital markets has received limited visibility. This is despite competition agencies such as India Competition Commission and the Competition Commission of South Africa having undertaken tremendous steps in the regulation of digital markets.

In his contribution to this symposium on Eleanor Fox and Mor Bakhoum’s book, Making Markets Work for Africa: Markets, Development, and Competition Law in Sub-Saharan Africa (OUP, 2019), Jasper Lubeto notes the omission of Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, as a case study in the book. This excellent book went to press before Nigeria’s competition law came into force in January this year. To add to the rich discussion in this symposium, this essay discusses the historical development of Nigeria’s new competition law as well as the players and forces that shaped it. Finally, it reflects on the challenges and opportunities open to the new agency established to oversee competition law and policy in Nigeria. This essay also precedes two other essays on Nigerian competition law in the next two days.