Category: dominance

Nigeria & Single-Firm Conduct: FCCPC Smokes Monopolist with Largest-Ever Fine

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British American Tobacco faces $110 million fine for abuse of dominance in Nigeria, after settlement with up-and-coming antitrust enforcement agency

By Nicola Taljaard and Nicole Araujo 

About three years ago, in the summer of 2020, British American Tobacco Nigeria Limited and associated companies (collectively “BAT”) became the subject of an investigation by Nigeria’s then-brand-new Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (“FCCPC”). The FCCPC was looking into the potential violation of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (“FCCPA”) and Administrative Penalties Regulations, 2020 (“Regulations”). After three years of investigating BAT’s business practices (including “dawn raids” on the company’s various office locations), the FCCPC found BAT guilty of having engaged in unfair business practices under section 155 of the Act by abusing its market dominance in Nigeria and violating public health regulations.  For the former, notably, BAT had penalized retailers for fostering an equitable and competitive market for its rival’s products in-store.

As a result of the finding, the FCCPC and BAT entered a consent order in December 2023. As part of this settlement pact, BAT agreed to engage in tobacco health advocacy, provide written assurances to the FCCPC and to be monitored by the FCCPC for the ensuing two years to ensure that BAT modified its behavioral and business practices to accord with relevant antitrust and tobacco control laws and efforts. BAT also agreed to pay a hefty fine of $110 million to the FCCPC in accordance with Clause 11 of the Regulations.  Notes Andreas Stargard, competition partner at specialist firm Primerio Ltd., “[t]he penalty agreed upon by the parties constitutes the largest fine imposed by the FCCPC thus far. It is also the first known instance in which the Regulations — which were intended to clarify the methodology for calculating administrative penalties — were applied and where the FCCPC has used the discretion conferred on it under Clause 11 to ‘consider administrative penalties on a case-by-case basis as the circumstances require’. Notably, BAT cannot appeal this fine, as it is part of a mutually agreed ‘consent order’ between the parties.”

In accordance with the terms and nature of the consent agreement, respectively, the FCCPCwithdrew the pending criminal charges against BAT and the agreement is not subject to appeal. Moreover, in compliance with applicable legislation, BAT and the relevant associated companies must advocate for both tobacco control and public health. 

The investigation and consent agreement have certainly come at a precarious time for BAT, which recently published that the value of its cigarette brands had diminished considerably in the past year and is known to have entered into a separate agreement with the US authorities surrounding investigations into the violation of a prohibition on tobacco sales to North Korea. 

The fine agreed to between the FCCPC and BAT follows the fairly recent publication of the FCCPC’s Regulations which delineate the legislative framework for the administration and imposition of administrative penalties according to the Act. The FCCPC reiterated its commitment to enforcing the law, making sure companies follow the relevant regulations, fair markets are fostered by all, and the protection of consumer interests are at the core of competitive actions and regulations. Ultimately, a fine to this extent sends a clear signal to other companies about the importance of fair, competitive behaviour and antitrust compliance. 

Sweeping Inquiry Sheds Light on Online Intermediation Platforms: Competition, Opportunity, and the Road Ahead

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By Tyla Lee Coertzen and Nicola Taljaard

On 31 July 2023, the South African Competition Commission (“SACC”) released its Final Report and Decision on the Online Intermediation Platforms Market Inquiry (“OIPMI”). The OIPMI was initially launched on 19 May 2021 and after a number of requests for information, public hearings, expert reports as well as comments and engagements with stakeholders, the SACC’s findings and recommendations have finally been concluded.

The SACC is empowered to conduct market inquiries according to section 43B(1)(a) of the Competition Act 89 of 1998 (as amended) where it has reason to believe that there are market features that may impede, distort or restrict competition in a particular market; or to achieve the objects and purposes of the Act (including participation of small and medium enterprises (“SMEs”) and historically disadvantaged persons (“HDPs”).

The Inquiry: A Timeline of Discovery and Discernment

  • May 2021: The kick-off. Release of the Statement of Issues (SOI), first round of Requests for Information (RFIs), and business user survey.
  • August 2021: Heating up with the release of the Further Statement of Issues (FSOI), second round of RFIs, and a refined business user survey.
  • November 2021: The public had their say with hearings and follow-up RFIs.
  • February 2022: Expert reports and in-camera hearings added a new dimension.
  • July 2022: Provisional Inquiry Report was published, provisional findings, and recommendations were made public.
  • August to December 2022: A flurry of submissions, stakeholder engagements, and follow-up RFIs.
  • January to July 2023: Engaging stakeholders on final findings and remedial actions, sealing the deal.

What Does It All Mean?

These findings focus on the various platform categories, including the mammoth influence of Google Search. The full extent of these actions requires deep exploration, but one thing is clear: the landscape of online intermediation platforms is about to shift.

During the launch of the OIPMI, the Minister Patel of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (“DTIC”) commended the SACC for its great effort and the high-quality product produced in the form of the OIPMI. He further noted that the government should consider taking an inclusive response to the findings and recommendations in the OIPMI.

The findings concluded, inter alia, that Google Search is vital as a means for consumers to access all platforms, and that its paid search alongside free results business model is disproportionately advantageous to larger and more established platforms. It also found that Booking.com’s practice of restricting hotel prices on certain online networks results in a restriction of competition and allows it to make more commission by making users reliant on it. eCommerce giant, Takealot, was found to have a conflict of interest due to its retail department competing with its marketplace sellers and causing detriment to the latter. Google Play and the Apple App stores were found to charge exorbitant fees to developers and on a global level, the platforms hampered the visibility of SA-paid apps. Food delivery platforms Uber Eats and Mr D Food were found to cause difficulty to their competitors because of the lack of openness regarding the surcharges charged on menus across their platforms, as well as the limitations put on national chain franchisees. Property advertisement platforms Property 24 and Private Property were further found to have hindered their competitors by providing low interoperability to competitors in respect of listings. Property 24, together with AutoTrader and Cars.co.za were also found to have hampered small estate agents and car dealers due to the discriminatory pricing implemented by these platforms.

To combat the effects of the findings, the SACC recommended the imposition of a number of remedial actions including consumer-aiding search filters, marketing incentives to purchase local goods, the removal of restrictive pricing clauses, the segregation of internal (competing) divisions, the removal of automatically directing mechanisms to larger players, disclosure clauses to consumers and other benefits to SMEs, HDPs and consumers.

All platforms will be provided a period within which to affect the remedial actions.

A New Chapter: Where Do We Go From Here?

This OIPMI hasn’t just been about pointing fingers and exposing flaws. It’s about shaping the future of a wide range of the economy. The implications are broad, affecting everyone from big tech to the small business owner striving to make a mark in a competitive world.

Michael-James Currie, Partner at Primerio, noted “The recommendations of the OIPMI are far reaching for online platforms. Regulators need to ensure that we do not undermine those who are growing and providing significant investment the digital market in a highly competitive market where firms are competing not only with established traditional retailers but also large international players. Likewise, South Africa cannot afford to signal to international players that their business models will be substantively undermined once they establish themselves in South Africa. This is particularly so if the Commission’s remedies are not informed by objective competition concerns.”

Moroccan telecom regulator fines dominant telco USD 1/4 billion

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Morocco’s national telco regulator (the Agence Nationale de Réglementation des Télécommunications or ANRT) has concluded, after a years-long investigation started in 2017 and a prior fining decision was taken in 2020, that Maroc Telecom Group had abused its dominant market position in violation of Article 7 of Law No. 104-12.

Says Andreas Stargard, a competition-law attorney at Primerio Ltd., “it is somewhat rare to see non-specialist regulator investigate competition-law violations and impose antitrust fines — particularly, as here, 5-year-long investigations and such enormous fine amounts as those imposed on Maroc Télécom, which is said to have committed various acts in furtherance of its dominance,” including conduct aimed at delaying competitors’ access to local-loop unbundling and entry into broadband. Stargard notes that the total fine of MAD2.45 billion (approx. US$238 million, which includes the prior 2020 fine amount) is now due to be paid, barring a successful appeal by the operator within 30 days.

Concentration and Participation in the South African Economy: Levels and Trends – SACC Publishes Report

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By Michael-James Currie & Gina Lodolo

On 7 December 2021, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel released a report titled “Measuring concentration and participation in the South African Economy: Levels and Trends”, accessible here (“Concentration Report”). This Concentration Report is the first of many as the Minster undertook to update the report bi-annually from hereon out.

The theme of the Concentration Report is centered on identifying and remedying:

  • Economic levels and trends that are skewed and don’t reflect South Africa’s population demographic; and
  • Entrenched leaders in certain sectors, which creates “inefficient concentration” by setting high barriers to entry thereby reducing competition, which, according to the Concentration Report, can lead to higher prices and lower investment in South Africa.

The Concentration Report highlights that concentrated markets are of a rising concern internationally, however, specifically in the South African context, the apartheid era created dominant firms that persist and prevent historically excluded persons from participating and gaining market share.

The Competition Commission (“SACC”) does however note that concentration does not automatically mean there is a lack of competition and there may be many instances where concentration will be for the benefit of the consumer and pro-competitive. In this regard pro-competitive concentration can be seen when innovation creates increased market size and economies of scale reduce prices for consumers. Further, the SACC notes that there are still gaps in the data, which will be addressed in the subsequent reports.

The Concentration Report highlights that the SACC will hereinafter be concentrating its efforts on markets that have been identified to contain a role player that is presumed dominant. In this regard, the sectors that have been identified as requiring increased scrutiny are:

  • Farming inputs;
  • Agro-processing;
  • Sin (alcohol and tobacco) industries;
  • Healthcare;
  • Communications;
  • Upstream steel value; and
  • Financial services

This increased scrutiny will be seen particularly in industries that require licenses to operate. This is of concern to the SACC because licensing can be used as a mechanism to spread out ownership, which may be curtailed by a merger, and the SACC has seen increased merger activity particularly in industries characterized by licensing requirements.

To conclude, it is vital to take cognizance of this Concentration Report because the SACC has highlighted that it will form the basis of strategic enforcement of the Competition Act 18 of 2018 (“Act”) and will lay the path for policy centered on a concentrated economy.  In this regard, we foresee closer scrutiny of role players with large market shares in the years to come, especially those players that are presumed to be dominant or expressly mentioned in the Concentration Report.

A further challenge that the Commission faces in tackling perceived high-levels of concentration, is balancing the clear socio-economic objectives with competition law goals and consumer welfare enhancing conduct. Although the Report acknowledges that high concentration does not mean the market is anti-competitive, the general policy of the Report is clearly aimed as protecting or promoting a designated group of competitors as opposed to the competitive process itself. This creates an inherent policy tension and requires very clear, transparent and quantifiable trade-offs.

As the Constitutional Court recently affirmed in the Mediclinic case, higher prices to consumers is not in the public interest. The converse is of course also true. Intervention in markets which may lead to adverse effects on consumer welfare would need to be weighed against the objective of “opening up” the market. Where healthy and efficient entry is permissible, that may well be consumer welfare enhancing but if remedial actions are deigned to simply protect inefficient market participants then interventionist measures are likely to amount to nothing more than a tax on large players which either ultimately gets passed on to consumers or discourages investment. It is absolutely critical to South Africa’s economy and to the integrity of the competition law regime that the latter consequences do not materialize.

You can access the summary report here: https://www.compcom.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Concentration-Tracker-Summary-Report.pdf

China tells Africa: ‘Monopolies bad!’

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In an interesting twist, a representative of the last properly remaining centralised economy (the People’s Republic of China) has admonished African nations (specifically South Africa, where he acts as Ambassador) to enhance competition-law enforcement against dominant firms, including Western tech giants.

We observe that his statement is an “interesting” twist, because the Editor was taught over the years in several (perhaps faulty?) history lessons that the PRC itself had been inarguably heavily reliant on government-run monopoly companies for decades.

But let’s cut to the chase of what Mr. Xiaodong is actually saying: his thesis, not exactly ground-breaking in antitrust circles, can be summarised succinctly as “excessive power and influence of technology giants hinder innovation and competition and increases economic inequality.” There!

With regards to the applicability of his thesis to South Africa, the ambassador notes that “Antimonopoly practices also exist in SA. The control over data fees and food prices imposed by big corporations here has safeguarded consumers’ rights and interests. Monopolistic actions in the platform economy is also a matter of grave concern for SA’s Competition Commission. No country can turn a blind eye to the negative externality of the emerging digital economy.”

Image credit: Shutterstock

“Negative externalities…” sound very much like proper Western antitrust-economics-speak. Interesting. However, there is of course an ulterior motive behind this little lesson in competition economics from his excellency, the honorable ambassador. It comes at the end of his “opinion” piece: China would like to do more business in Africa, strengthen its ties, and deepen its influence (including in the area of education – beware!)… In the diplomat’s own words: “China’s high quality economic development brings greater opportunities for Africa’s development. … And China’s current cumulative investment in SA has exceeded $25bn, creating more than 400,000 jobs directly and indirectly in the region and making big contributions to SA’s economic and social development.”

Curious news, perhaps not so much any more after digging deeper. Especially when the interested reader googles (oh yes, coincidentally using that same FAANG company’s services that Mr. Xiadong’s diatribe indirectly disparages here) the simple search term “China – Africa“, the latest news from today’s South China Morning Post is that “China seeks to expand influence in Africa with more digital projects…” — nice coincidence.

Well, now readers of AAT know.

China wants to “share the achievements of digital technology with Africa to promote interconnectivity”

Interdict Granted in Favour of GovChat, Preventing Removal from the Whatsapp Platform

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By Gina Lodolo

The South African Competition Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) has been called to consider a complaint of abuse of dominance against Whatsapp, arising out of its notice to terminate its contract with “GovChat” and off-board GovChat from the Whatsapp platform. GovChat is a chatbot service that allows the government to engage with citizens and provide government services such as health and education.

GovChat approached the Tribunal, alleging that due to the high market shares of Whatsapp in South Africa, competing platforms do not have sufficient scale (consumer numbers and reach) to provide alternatives on their own separate platform (such as WeChat in China). Smaller platforms are forced to make use of the Whatsapp network where Whatsapp’s terms of service do not allow for the expansion of the GovChat business model to become a competitor to Whatsapp. GovChat stated that its “entire existence will be materially prejudiced” if removed from the platform. It was alleged that the decision to off-board GovChat would put GovChat out of business and affect millions of citizens who benefit from the platform. CEO of GovChat, Eldrid Jordaan stated that “GovChat’s case is that Whatsapp/Facebook have abused their dominance because off-boarding GovChat has an exclusionary effect, preventing GovChat from operating in the relevant market.”Exclusionary acts are prohibited by Section 8(1)(c) of the Competition Act 89 of 1998 (“Act”) which states that a firm is prohibited from engaging in an exclusionary act if the “anti-competitive effect of that act outweighs its technological, efficiency or other pro-competitive gain”.  In this matter, Whatsapp/Facebook would have to prove that the exclusionary act has a pro-competitive gain.  The respondent has to discharge the allegation that refusing consumers access to an essential facility or a scarce service is an abuse of dominance according to sections 8(1)(b) and/or 8(1)(d)(ii) of the Act.

The alleged breach of the terms of service lies in the use of GovChat as a de facto communications platform for the government, when it is in fact not a government owned entity and WhatsApp stated of concern that “GovChat seeks to intermediate itself between government and citizens as a profit-making entity. It seems to aspire to become the official communication channel for the South African Government and effectively be the gateway through which citizens access government through Whatsapp”, where GovChat monetises confidential information of citizens through the use of the Whatsapp platform. Accordingly, citizens share confidential information which is monetized by a private entity, of which practice Whatsapp believes to be prejudicial to its platform and its terms of use, and therefore in breach of its terms of service.

GovChat logo

The competitive harm towards GovChat lies in the manner in which Whatsapp made use of its dominance through the unilateral off-board of GovChat. Whatsapp argues that its conduct cannot be anti-competitive as Whatsapp and GovChat do not provide the same facilities and are therefore not direct competitors. To this end, representing GovChat, Advocate Paul Farlam stated that “Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg intends to introduce a payment system, as such, locking GovChat out of Whatsapp would give Whatsapp an advantage as being locked out of the market for an indefinite period would stop GovChat from entering the market first, allowing Whatsapp to keep customers away from GovChat while Whatsapp enters that market”. If this is the case,  Facebook is hiding under the guise that the offboard is due to a breach in its terms of service, in order to remove the potential competition from GovChat in the same market.

On the 25th of March 2021, the Tribunal issued an interim interdict to restrain Whatsapp from removing GovChat from its platform, pending the outcome of the complaint that GovChat has lodged against Facebook with the Competition Commission. The interim interdict has been granted in favour of GovChat as it established a prima facie case demonstrating the alleged exclusionary conduct and anticompetitive effects that the off-board would have on GovChat. Facebook failed to rebut the prima facie case by providing pro-competitive gains that outweigh the alleged anti-competitive effects of the off-board. Due to the nature of the GovChat platform being in the public interest during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tribunal held that “the balance of convenience favours the granting of interim relief to the applicants who provide an invaluable service.”

Importantly, the relief is only interim in nature. Accordingly, the Competition Commission has not yet made a finding that Facebook has indeed contravened the Competition Act 89 of 1998  through an abuse of dominance.

Enforcement Alert: SACC ordered to remedy its complaint referral in 2nd CompuTicket abuse-of-dominance case

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By Charl van der Merwe, assisted by Christine Turkington & Gina Lodolo

The South African competition Commission (SACC) has suffered yet another procedural setback- related to the facts pleaded in its referral affidavit – this time, in its ongoing saga with Computicket and Shoprite Checkers, apropos Computicket’s alleged abuse of dominance.

In its initial case against Computicket, which ultimately went to the Competition Appeal Court, SACC succeeded in holding Computicket to account for abuse of dominance in contravention of section 8(d)(i) of the Competition Act (Computicket One). Computicket One was based on the fact that Computicket had entered into exclusive agreements with customers which had the effect of excluding competitors from the market. See exclusive AAT article on Computicket One case here.

The SACC was critical of the conduct of Shoprite Checkers as, in Computicket One, the SACC alleged that the exclusive agreements were entered into between Computicket and Shoprite Checkers shortly after the Computicket was acquired by Shoprite Checkers. Computicket One was based on the agreement entered into for the period 2005 to 2010.

Accordingly and shortly after the conclusion of Computicket One, the SACC referred a second complaint against Computicket for abuse of dominance. The cause of action is substantively similar as that which had been found to be a contravention in Computicket One, however, this time based on the agreements entered into from January 2013 and which are alleged to be ongoing (Computicket Two). In Computicket Two, however, the SACC now seeks to hold Shoprite Checkers jointly and severally liable with Computicket in its capacity as the ultimate parent company of Computicket. Moreover, the SACC appears to seek the imposition of a penalty based on the higher turnover of Shoprite Checkers.

Note that Computicket Two was referred to the Tribunal prior to the enactment of the Competition Amendment Act, which provides for parent companies to be held jointly and severally liable for the conduct of subsidiaries and/or allows for the calculation of an administrative penalty, based on the turnover of the parent company where the parent was aware or ought to have been aware of the conduct of the subsidiary.

The Tribunal, therefore, found the SACC’s referral affidavit to be flawed and lacking of the facts (and points of law) necessary to sustain a cause of action, particularly in so far as it seeks to hold Shoprite Checkers liable. In this regard, the Tribunal expressly held that they view Computicket and Shoprite Checkers as separate economic entities and should thus be treated separately with respect to the allegations made in the Commission’s complaint referral.

The Tribunal went on the emphasize that on the consideration of dominance (which is the statutory first step to an assessment under section 8), “… the Commission conceded that Shoprite Checkers is not active in the market for outsourced ticketing services to inventory providers in which Computicket is active. Unsurprisingly, no market shares attributable to Shoprite Checkers are reflected anywhere in the Commission’s referral. It is simply unclear of what we are to make of the allegations against Shoprite Checkers.”

In order to correct these defects and instead of dismissing SACC’s case, the Tribunal ordered the SACC to file a supplementary affidavit. The Tribunal held that “[g]iven that the Commission’s reliance on the single economic entity doctrine fails and the question of dominance is abundantly opaque, the Commission must rectify its referral to properly reflect and clarify the case against Shoprite Checkers in order for it to meet the case put against it.”

Should the SACC fail to file its supplementary affidavit, within the 30 business days, as order by the Tribunal, Shoprite Checkers and Computicket may approach the Tribunal for an order that the case be dismissed.

John Oxenham, director of Primerio, notes that the Tribunal’s order in allowing the SACC an opportunity to first supplement or amend its referral affidavit is in line with the recent orders of both the Tribunal and Competition Appeal Court to first allow such opportunity for the SACC to remedy its case, instead of ordering an outright dismissal of the case on an interlocutory basis. This is likely to form the precedent for interlocutory applications, even where the facts suggest that the SACC’s case is opportunistic and incapable of being remedied.

According to competition lawyer, Michael-James Currie, the recent orders which have come out of the Tribunal and Competition Appeal Court in interlocutory applications will hopefully have a positive effect on the manner in which cases are referred and prosecuted in South Africa.

The SACC has at times demonstrated a tendency to be overly broad in its complaint referrals, causing respondent firms to engage in costly and time consuming internal investigations to assess the merits of such cases. With the development of the previously underutilized interlocutory processes, respondent firms are now able to, at an early stage of the litigation process, ensure that the SACC sets out its case in a concise manner, substantiated with the requisite factual allegations required to sustain its case, thereby avoiding the unnecessary cost of expansive internal investigations and protracted litigation.

 

 

SOUTH AFRICA: COMPETITION APPEAL COURT CONFIRMS TRIBUNAL FINDING IN COMPUTICKET ABUSE OF DOMINANCE CASE

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By Charl van der Merwe

The South African Competition Appeal Court (CAC) on 23 October 2019 dismissed an appeal by Computicket (Pty) Ltd. (Computicket), following the decision of the Competition Tribunal (Tribunal) that Computicket had abused its dominance in contravention of the Competition Act.

For further information on the Tribunal decision, see the AAT exclusive here

Computicket appealed to the CAC on the substantive basis that the Tribunal erred in its factual conclusions on exclusion and anti-competitive effects.

It was further alleged by Computicket in its appeal that the economic evidence presented by the Commission was untested and speculative and ought to have been dismissed for a lack of independence. The basis for this allegation was that the economic evidence was presented by the Chief economist of the Commission, which presented a conflict of interests as the witness would be biased in favor of the Commission. The CAC rejected this argument and held that the evidence of experts must be assessed objectively on the basis of the criteria specified by the CAC (see Sasol Chemical Industries Limited v The Competition Commission 2015  – where the CAC held that there is no distinction drawn between an expert employed with the Commission and one appointed by a litigant).

On the substantive competition assessment, both experts were in agreement on the relevant market and Computicket conceded that it was dominant in that market in terms of section 7 of the Competition Act (with consistent market shares in excess of 95%).

The abusive conduct in question was that of exclusionary conduct, which can be assessed either in terms of section 8(c) or 8(d), with the latter being the ‘catch all’ provision. In this regard, the CAC confirmed that in terms of section 8(d)(i), it is sufficient for the Commission to prove only that Computicket’s conduct requires “or induces a customer not to deal with a competitor, without having to prove that the conduct also “impedes or prevents a firm from entering into, participating in or expanding within a market”. Once the Commission succeeds in linking the conduct to an identified theory of harm, the respondent bears the burden of proving that the harm is outweighed based on efficiency or other pro-competitive grounds.

Computicket argued against this ‘form based’ approach which, it believed hampered efficiency and could lead to consumer harm. It argued that one must consider the unique features of each market and, where there are other factors which may have exclusionary effects, the case must be dismissed.

This argument was, to some extent, upheld by the CAC who confirmed that there must be a causal relationship between the conduct and the anti-competitive effect (effects doctrine). The key consideration, however, remains what effect must be proven and the CAC confirmed that ultimately the judgment is made in weighing the net effects (harms and gain). In doing so, the CAC considered both actual and potential effects as well as the materiality of such effects. The CAC held that “plainly, a small adverse effect will readily be outweighed by pro-competitive gains”.

Against this legal framework, the CAC ultimately upheld the factual findings of the Tribunal and dismissed Computicket’s appeal.

In assessing the evidence, the CAC dealt with two fairly novel concepts which have become increasingly prevalent in South African competition enforcement, the assessment of negative effects on innovation and the efficiency of small competitors for purposes of the substantive assessment.

With regard to the latter, the CAC dismissed Computicket’s argument that a competitor lacked the requisite size and efficiency to compete with it. The CAC confirmed that the size and efficiency of the competitor are not determining factors in establishing likely competitive effects.

On the issue of innovation, without dealing with the argument in too much detail, the CAC confirmed the Tribunal’s finding that the exclusionary clause had a negative effect on innovation. This was held with reference to the Tribunal’s finding that Computicket had a “reluctance” to “timeously make use of available advances in technology and innovation”.

The Commission’s theory of harm in this case was that, viewed holistically, a decrease in supply by inventory providers; a reluctance by Computicket to timeously make use of available advances in technology and innovation; and the lack of choices for end consumers all cumulatively established an anti-competitive effect. It is not clear whether the delay (or reluctance) in introducing technology can be found to be an independent theory of harm.

In the Commission’s media release, the Commission indicated that it has referred a further case for prosecution to the Tribunal against Computicket and Shoprite Checkers (Pty) Ltd for exclusive agreements entered into between January 2013 to date (a period not covered by the prior case).

Competition lawyer, Michael-James Currie, says that the Commission has had limited success before the Competition Appeal Court in previous abuse of dominance cases with a number of decisions by the Tribunal in favour of the Commission overturned. One of the key concerns raised by the CAC previously is that the Commission failed to present a sufficiently robust economic case based on the available evidence to substantiate the theory of harm. The Commission appears to have, in this case, presented a compelling economic argument.

 

COMESA Competition Commission: 2019 Regional Sensitization Workshop

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On 9-10 September 2019, the Comesa Competition Commission (CCC) hosted its 6th  “Regional Sensitization Workshop for Business Reporters on Competition Law and Trade Developments within the Common Market” workshop in Nairobi, Kenya as part of its advocacy initiative to promote competition law and enforcement activities across the COMESA region.

AfricanAntitrust, having attended last year’s event, was again invited to attend the event and senior contributor and competition lawyer, Michael-James Currie, attended the event on behalf of AAT and participated in a serious of panel discussions and informal interactive sessions with members of the CCC and Competition Authority of Kenya.

Attendees

The workshop was well attended with a year on year increase in attendees reflecting the importance and popularity of this initiative. The CCC should be congratulated on a well organized and structured workshop.

Patrick Okilangole, Board Chairperson of the CCC, opened the event by highlighting the importance of competitive domestic markets to  “realize the benefits of trade; multilateral and bilateral trade agreements recognize the need to guarantee that restrictive business practices do not hinder the positive effects of free trade”.

Protectionist policies was identified by Okilangole as one of the key impediments to effective regional growth and trade. More specifically, Okilangole highlighted the following consequences of protectionist policies:

“(i)     Ineffective competition policy frameworks. Over the past few years, competition law has been enacted in several Member States of the Common Market. However, in some countries, competition frameworks have included:

(ii)      unjustified and discretionary exemptions, for example, utilities managed by the state in key economic sectors,

(iii)     lack of sufficient investigative powers and tools in the current national and regional legislation to deter anticompetitive behaviour,

(iv)    lack of independency in decision making since competition agencies report to and their decisions may be vetoed by a ministry, and

(v)     significant government intervention in markets such as price controls in potentially competitive markets, controlling essential products, margins, and geographic areas.”

Okilangole reaffirmed the true hallmark of an effective competition law regime, namely that competition law should be focused on protecting the competitive process and not a particular competitor. “The rules are not meant to punish large companies on account of their size or commercial success. The key feature of the competition rules is to create a level playing field for all business players in the market.”

Okilangole’s remarks were echoed by the Chief Executive Officer of the CCC, George Lipimile who emphasised the need to move away from protectionist policies in order to realise the benefits that flow from increased regional trade.

Restrictive business practices, particularly abuse of dominance practices and collusion were identified by Lipimile as being particularly prevalent within COMESA and that increased enforcement activities are required, both by the CCC and regional agencies, to detect and prosecute anti-competitive behaviour.

The workshop was also used as an opportunity to present and engage on the CCC’s Guidelines on Restrictive Business Practices (which were approved in April 2019). The objective of the Guidelines is to provide greater clarity, predictability and transparency in relation to the analytical framework which will be used to evaluate alleged anti-competitive conduct. The Guidelines also provide greater guidance on the process and circumstances in which the CCC may grant exemptions.

The CCC was well represented (so to was the CAK) and senior investigators, analysts and members from the executive team provided useful insights into the enforcement activities of the CCC as well as what lay ahead in the pipeline. Attendees were invited to engage, debate and where appropriate raise concerns regarding the efficacy of competition law enforcement in COMESA. It is this willingness to be open and engage proactively with constructive criticism which is perhaps the hallmark of this CCC initiative and certainly welcomed by the attendees.

As to enforcement updates, the CCC put together comprehensive presentations both in relation to merger control and restrictive business practices more generally. We highlight some of the more noteworthy developments below.

Merger Control

Willard Mwemba, manager of mergers and acquisitions at the CCC, confirmed that over 230 transactions have been notified to the CCC between 2013 and July 2019. Of these, 17 were approved subject to conditions.

From a merger trend perspective, the CCC witnessed an increased shift in merger notifications in traditional sectors, such as agriculture and construction, to emerging sectors such as energy, banking and financial services with the most active member states including Kenya, Zambia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe and Uganda.

As to merger activity in COMESA, Mwemba confirmed that there has been a decrease in merger activity in the first half of 2019, largely as a result of a decrease in global activity and that the value of transactions that occurred within the first half of 2019 dropped from USD 527 billion to USD 319 billion for the same period in 2018. This is also consistent with the 19% decrease in the number of notifiable transactions globally.

The combined total turnover value of all mergers assessed by the CCC to date amounts to over USD 110 billion. Although 2019 figures were not presented, the CCC highlighted that total Foreign Direct Investment in COMESA grew in 2016 from USD 18.6 billion to USD 19.3 billion in 2017 representing nearly half of Africa’s total FDI inflows. Again, highlighting the significance of the COMESA market in the global space.

Enforcement Activities

Although the CCC has had an active merger control regime in place for many years, a number of commentators have raised the lack of robustly investigated and prosecuted abuse of dominance or cartel cases as a key hindrance to effective competition law enforcement in COMESA. While the CCC acknowledges that more should be done in this regard, below is a list of non-merger matters which the CCC has concluded in past three years:

Exemptions

Matter Sector Affected Member States
Assessment of the supply agreement between Eveready East Africa Limited and Supreme Imports Limited Lighting bulbs Burundi, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia
Assessment of the supply agreement between Eveready East Africa Limited and Sayyed Engineers Limited Writing implements East Africa
Assessment of the supply agreement between Eveready East Africa Limited and Chloride Egypt SAE Automotive Batteries Burundi, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda
Assessment of the Distribution Agreement between John Deere (Proprietary) Limited and AFGRI Zimbabwe Private Limited Agriculture Equipment Zimbabwe
Assessment of the Distribution Agreement between the Wirtgen Group and the Motor Engineering Company of Ethiopia Agriculture and Construction Equipment Ethiopia
Assessment of the Distribution Agreement between the Wirtgen Group and UMCL Limited Agriculture and Construction Equipment Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles
Assessment of the Distribution Agreement between the Wirtgen Group and Sodirex SA, Madagascar Road Construction Machinery Madagascar
Application for the Joint Venture Agreement between Kenya Airways PLC, Koninklijke Luchvaart Maatscahppij NV (KLM) and Societe Air France SA Aviation Kenya
Assessment of the distribution agreements between Unilever Market Development (Pty) Limited and Distributors in the Common Market  FMCGs DRC, Madagascar, Mauritius,

Determination of Anti-Competitive Conduct: Procedure of Commission on its own volition

Matter Sector Affected Member States
Investigation into the Distribution Agreements entered into between Eveready East Africa Limited and Clorox Sub Saharan Africa Bleaching agents East Africa
Investigation into the Distribution Agreements entered into between Parmalat SA (Pty) Limited and its Distributors Milk and dairy products Eswatini, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Investigation into the Distribution Agreements between Coca-Cola Beverages Africa and Distributors in the Common Market Non-alcoholic beverages Comoros, Ethiopia, Uganda

False or Misleading Representation 

Matter Sector Affected Member States
Misleading Advertising by Fastjet Airlines Limited Aviation Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

The CCC also confirmed that they are currently conducting a number of market screening initiatives across priority sectors. Following the conclusion of these screening exercises, the CCC will decide whether to prosecute any firms engaged in restrictive business practices.

As part of the CCC’s efforts in detecting and investigating anti-competitive behavior, the CCC has increased its collaborative efforts with domestic member agencies and has established the “Restrictive Business Practices Network” to increase the efficacy of cross-border cases.

Currie Panel Discussion

[Michael-James Currie speaking on a panel discussion on “How to improve the quality of reporting on regional integration and competition law related matters” facilitated by Mr Mwangi Gakunga from the Competition Authority of Kenya]

Conclusion

In light of the tripartite negotiations between SADC-EAC-COMESA as well as the negotiation of competition policy in terms of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, it is imperative that the CCC develops an effective competition enforcement regime which assists and incentivizes free trade across the relevant markets. To do so, the CCC must be equipped with the necessary resources to ensure that it has the capacity to effectively execute its policies.

Despite the significant challenges faced by the CCC, it is encouraging to note that the CCC is taking a more robust approach to detecting and prosecuting anti-competitive practices in the COMESA market and are endeavoring to do so in accordance with international best practices.

If the CCC is able to deliver on the objectives and action items which were discussed in detail at the workshop, then there is every reasons to look forward to a more active CCC in the months to come with interesting cases likely to be brought to the fore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mauritius: Competition Commission orders VISA and MasterCard to lower interchange fees

Posted on by Editor

[By Michael-James Currie]

On 13 August 2019, the Competition Commission of Mauritius (CCM) has, following a lengthy investigation, ordered VISA and MasterCard (Respondents) to reduce their banking interchange fees from 1% to 0,5%.

The CCM found that the Respondents set an interchange fee of 1% which in turn led to higher merchant fees. As a consequence, the interchange fee were found to have hampered the incentive for banks to issue credit/debit cards and to provide card facilities to merchants. This led to either some merchants electing not to have card accepting facilities or to increase the final price to consumers.

The high interchange fees were found by the CCM to impede competition between banks and in particular, the ability of smaller “acquirer” banks to compete with more established banks.

In determining the 0,5% “fee cap”, the CCM noted that the respondents offered a 0,5% interchange fee for payments at petrol stations and that the lower interchange fee applicable to petrol station payments has had positive effects.

The executive director of the CCM, Mr Deshmuk Kowlessur, stated that:

“The decision of the Commission requiring VISA and MasterCard to limit the interchange fees to a maximum of 0.5% is likely to reshape the competition landscape in the local payment card market. The reduction of the interchange fees will open-up the market for existing and  potential banking and other financial institutions to offer acquiring services to merchants.  At the same time, the two dominant banks will have to compete more rigorously. A  new dynamism  in  the local payment  card  market  is  likely  to encourage  existing  competitors  and  new  entrants  to  offer innovative  services.  The resulting lower merchant service commission will encourage card-acceptance by merchants and thus offer card users the convenience, security and lower costs of settling their transactions.  It can also be expected that consumers can benefit from lower prices of goods and services, as merchants’ cost of transaction will be reduced with lower merchant service commission. At the end, the  reduction  in  the  interchange  fee  will  bring  more competition  in  the  payment  card  market and positively impact  on trade,  commerce  and  economic development.”

The decision by the CCM is noteworthy for a number of reasons. The CCM’s findings is based on an abuse of dominance case by “setting a high interchange fee”. The CMM’s reasons (at those which are publicly available) do not, however, provide any indication of the benchmark used for finding that the prices were “high”. Unlike traditional excessive pricing cases (which are notoriously difficult to prosecute), the CMM does not set out the requisite test which should be used for purposes of determining whether a price is “high” (or excessive). The media release published by the CCM appears to suggest that the conduct amounted to a “collective dominance” / tacit collusion type of case without expressly stating as much.

John Oxenham, director at Primerio, says that the CCM’s remedy is noteworthy as “the CCM is for all practical purposes acting as a price regulator which is traditionally not the role of competition authorities“.

VISA and MasterCard have, however, indicated that they will appeal the CCM’s findings before the Supreme Court.

[Primerio specializes in providing competition law advice to clients across Africa including Mauritius]