Legal Issues of Economic Integration
Volume 52, Issue 1 (2025) pp. 5 – 44

httpss://doi.org/10.54648/leie2025002

Abstract

The global rise of digital trade has shifted economic inequalities, narrowing gaps in some regions while exacerbating disparities between Africa and more digitally advanced areas. The massive dominance of Big Techs in digital markets has concentrated economic benefits among a few large players, often bypassing local African firms. The AfricanContinental Free TradeArea (AfCFTA) aims to enhance intra-African trade to foster economic growth with its newly adopted AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade focusing on integrating African digital markets. However, without careful regulation, this integration risks deepening existing disparities. Given that Big Techs’ dominance is a key driver of these imbalances, I explore how the AfCFTA’s Competition Protocol can be leveraged to navigate them. The Competition Protocol, with its multilayered approach to competition regulation, offers a framework for ensuring digital trade fosters equitable economic development across Africa. It tackles anti-competitive conduct in cases with a continental dimension, such as the abuse of economic dependence by gatekeepers, mandates support for regional and national authorities through technical assistance and capacity-building, and promotes cooperation and coordinated enforcement between all three jurisdictional levels. While not a complete solution, the Protocol represents a significant step toward ensuring Africa’s digital market integration promotes equitable development.

Extract

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