COMESA unveils new regulations to safeguard consumers in rapidly growing digital economy

By Kelly Njombo, Livingstone, Southern Province, Zambia’s Tourism Capital City 

AS global trends evolve, having dynamical strong competition and consumer protection regulations is key in ensuring open, fair, and safe markets, which are significant drivers of economic growth and consumer protection.

With the daily advancement of economies and technology, there is need for rigorous competition and consumer protection laws that adapt, to promote fair and competitive markets to help provide a win win situation for consumers, businesses as well as industry players in regional markets and beyond.
Aligning these two regulatory areas will not only help close enforcement gaps, address new digital market challenges, but also promote competition by preventing and prohibiting anti-competitive business practices, anti-competitive mergers and other restrictions that deter the efficient operation of markets.

To ensure that rapid transformations in digital global and regional markets align with laws and regulations, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has officially launched the COMESA Competition and Consumer Protection Regulations of 2025, marking a significant shift in the region’s competition and consumer protection framework.
The adoption of the 2025 Regulations has resulted in the re-branding of the COMESA Competition Commission (CCC) to the COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission (CCCC), strengthening its effectiveness in implementing and regulating the consumer protection mandate across Member States and the world at large.
This is in line with the CCCC’s mission to promote competitive markets and enhance consumer welfare within the Common Market by preventing and prohibiting anti-competitive business practices and protecting consumers, thereby deepening regional integration,
The new Regulations which were approved by the COMESA Council of Ministers on December 4, 2025 in Lusaka, entered into force, abrogating the 2004 framework that governed the Common Market for more than two decades.
This development excited CCCC Chief Executive Officer Willard Mwemba, as the new Regulations broadens both the Commission’s mandate and enforcement scope in promoting competitive markets among businesses and consumer protection in the new digital era.
Speaking during the launch in Livingstone last week, Dr. Mwemba explained that the rapid growth of technology and its use among businesses and consumers in the COMESA Region and Africa as a whole, required that the law be amended, if it was to address the potential anti-competitive conducts and consumer issues arising thereof, which the 2004 Regulations could not address.
Dr. Mwemba vowed that as the Commission embarks on this journey of enforcing the Regulations, it will embrace transparency and constructive stakeholder engagement to ensure that the law does not suffocate the business environment in the Common Market.
He is confident that the developed 2025 Regulations will help address the challenges encountered during the enforcement of the COMESA Competition Regulations of 2004 and the emerging issues that the law was previously not adequately addressing.
“Globalisation and technological advancement contribute to changes in market dynamics. As markets are dynamic, it is also important that the laws are not static but are amended taking into account these changes. This will ensure that competition authorities do not fail to intervene in conduct that could irreversibly distort markets,” he said this during the official launch in Livingstone last week.

According to statistics from the CCCC, the digital market size in Africa was estimated at 30.24 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach 63.31 billion by 2030 at a growth rate of 15.9 percent
This has been supported by the increasing technological capability in African states which increased from 25 percent to 41 percent between 2000 and 2018 linked to increasing internet penetration and rapid diffusion of digital technologies across the countries.
With these developments, it is critical that the new framework prohibits dark patterns unethical, deceptive user interface designs on websites and applications that manipulate users into doing things they did not intend, such as buying, signing up for, or sharing personal data.
In line with with its main function to prohibit, monitor, and investigate anti-competitive business practices, unfair trade practices and mergers in the Common Market, the new framework will help prohibit dark patterns, positioning the Commission among the first globally to take such a firm stance.

Commenting on the development, COMESA Secretary General (SG) Chileshe Kapwepwe described the launch of the 2025 Regulations as a milestone, that marks a significant evolution in regional legal and institutional framework governing competition and consumer protection in the COMESA Region.

Ms. Kapwepwe stated that the 2025 Regulations that seek to address the gaps which were identified in the 2004 framework and introduce modern tools required for today’s markets, arrive at a critical moment, when COMESA prepares its 2026-2030 Medium‑Term Strategic Plan and as the CCCC begins to implement its 2026-2030 Strategic Plan.
Ms. Kapwepwe stressed that the new Regulations seek to strengthen merger control through a new suspensory regime, enhance enforcement powers, and provide mechanisms for regulating digital markets, including digital mergers and gatekeeper conduct.
The Secretary General further added that the new 2025 Regulations will also explicitly provide consumer rights, address misleading representation and harmful online practices such as dark patterns and unsafe digital content, under Regulation 62 of the COMESA Competition and Consumer Protection Regulations.
“Markets have become more dynamic and digital, thus requiring more robust and responsive regulation. It is comforting to note that the CCCC Regulations have introduced new aspects of regulating digital markets.

Further, markets continue to become more integrated, as can be witnessed from the progress in continental and regional integration efforts on the Africa Continent, which calls for a more collaborative approach to the implementation of regional integration efforts, including the enforcement of competition law,” Ms Kapwepwe explained in her keynote address during the launch.
Ms. Kapwepwe said it is comforting to note that the 2025 Regulations have explicitly provided for mechanisms for collaboration between the COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission and other regional competition authorities.
It is important to note that the new Instruments place strong emphasis on deeper regional integration, an enabling business environment, digital transformation, sustainability and consumer welfare.
Effective enforcement is not merely a legal exercise, but an economic imperative, especially in a region of 21 Member States, 682 million people, and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceeding US$1.1 trillion, strong competition and consumer protection regimes help attract investment, lower barriers to entry, spur innovation, and ultimately create employment.
Cognisantly, Government believes the launch of the new Regulations by COMESA is a critical step towards promoting sustainable trade, industrial growth, and economic cooperation among Member States.
Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary Lillian Bwalya expressed Governments appreciation to COMESA for the continued partnership in advancing regional integration and economic transformation.
“This collaboration demonstrates the value of collective action in unlocking business opportunities, enhancing competitiveness, and harmonising standards. The regulations provide a framework for trust, transparency, and predictability in trade, while reducing barriers and fostering investment and innovation.
I commend COMESA’s leadership and technical expertise in developing these regulations, which aligns regional aspirations with national priorities. As we move forward, the Ministry reaffirms its commitment to dialogue, cooperation, and shared responsibility,” Ms. Kapwepwe added.
And the Zambia Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) welcomed the new Regulations, as they constitute the first comprehensive revision of the commission’s regulatory framework since its establishment in 2004, reflecting two decades of practical experience, evolving market realities, and the growing complexity of regional trade and competition.
CCPC Executive Director Eunice Hamavhwa explained that the revised regulations come at a critical time when markets are increasingly interconnected, dynamic, and influenced by digitalisation and cross-border commercial activity.
Mrs. Hamavhwa said the new framework will provide greater clarity, enhanced tools, and a stronger foundation for effective regional enforcement, while supporting fair competition, consumer welfare, and deeper regional economic integration.
Meanwhile, Consumer Unit Trust Society (CUTS) Zambia Director Angela Mulenga commended COMESA for the timely roll out of the new Regulations, as they seek to address various challenges including climate change, the environment, as well as social issues.
Ms. Mulenga understands that the move taken by the Regional body, will not only stimulate efficiency in production, innovation and improved business practices, but will also ensure sustainable economic growth, employment creation and economic transformation.

Clearly, the continued collaboration among competition enforcement regulators is a reminder that together, we can make Africa not just a marketplace for digital tools, but a powerhouse of ideas, innovation, and opportunity, a continent where every individual has a stake in shaping the digital world, while promoting the regional integration agenda.