THE IMPLICATIONS OF GLOBAL CONSOLIDATION IN THE SEED INDUSTRY
SHINGIE CHISORO-DUBE & LAURALYN KAZIBONI The world population is expected to reach ten billion by 2050, which has implications for food security in the context of climate change. In the recent $43 billion acquisition of Syngenta, a global seed company, by ChemChina, a chemicals company, the CEO of ChemChina notes that the merger was […]
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE FIRST COMESA RESTRICTIVE BUSINESS PRACTICE CASE?
PROCEDURAL ISSUES AND EFFECTIVENESS OF REGIONAL COMPETITION AUTHORITIES TATENDA ZENGENI In the first quarter of 2017 the COMESA Competition Commission (CCC) assessed its first restrictive business practice complaint. The case relates to the exclusive award of marketing and media rights for the main regional football competitions on the African continent. The allegation is that on […]
KEY ISSUES IN DEVELOPING COSMETICS, SOAPS, AND DETERGENTS VALUE CHAINS – SOUTH AFRICA AND ZAMBIA
OPPORTUNITIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN BUILDING VIABLE REGIONAL VALUE CHAINS FARISAI CHIN’ANGA Firm competitiveness can be understood as the ability to provide products and services at least as efficiently and effectively as competitors. At the industry level, international competitiveness is the ability of domestic firms to achieve sustained success against foreign competitors such as in […]
SOUTH AFRICA’S PUBLIC TRANSPORT MARKET INQUIRY: INTEGRATING MODES
KEY ISSUES FOR RIVALRY BETWEEN MODES OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT MMAMOLETJI THOSAGO The Competition Commission of South Africa’s land-based public passenger transport market inquiry, which commenced in June 2017, addresses a range of questions including issues with intermodal transport links. The inquiry relates to excessive short distance passenger transport fares charged by buses, peak season […]
RECENT CARTEL PENALISED IN SOUTH AFRICA: POSSIBLE IMPACTS IN THE REGION?
A CARTEL IN SOUTH AFRICA IS A CARTEL IN THE REGION? TEBOHO BOSIU The South African Competition Commission has been very successful in uncovering cartels, with a large number of settlements over the past 10 years. It should be noted that settlements typically involve an admission on the part of the companies involved. Given the […]
THE CASE FOR PATIENT CAPITAL: SMALL BUSINESS FUNDING IN SOUTH AFRICA
CURRENT TRENDS IN TRADITIONAL COMMERCIAL LENDING AND THE ROLE OF DEVELOPMENT FINANCE MARIA NKHONJERA & NICHOLAS NHUNDU Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are key drivers of inclusive growth in the South African economy, contributing about 55% to the gross domestic product, while their contribution towards employment is as high as 60%. In addition, small firms and […]
QUARTERLY COMPETITION CASE UPDATE
Julius Nyamwena and Pamela Mondliwa [1] Industrial Development Think Tank[2] On 1st July 2020, the Protection of Personal Information Act (“POPIA”) came into effect after being introduced in 2014. POPIA positions South Africa in the mainstream of relatively well-developed data protection laws, regulating the collection, processing, and sharing of personal information. These controls over the […]
DSTV MEDIA SALES: PRICE FIXING, MARKET POWER AND TWO-SIDED MARKETS
LEVERAGING MARKET POWER IN TWO-SIDED MEDIA MARKETS JASON BELL DStv Media Sales (Pty) Ltd (DMS) was recently found to have been involved in anti-competitive behaviour and has admitted to price fixing as well as fixing trading conditions. This comes after an investigation by the Competition Commission of South Africa which commenced in November 2011 where […]
COMESA CC APPROVAL OF THE BIH AND CARLSBERG BEER MERGER
ANTHEA PAELO In April 2017, the COMESA Competition Commission (CCC) conditionally approved a large merger between Brasseries Internationales Holdings (BIH) Ltd and Carlsberg Malawi Ltd (Carlsberg). BIH is the holding company of Castel Group, a French beverages company. The second party to the merger, Carlsberg, is a beverages manufacturer participating solely in the Malawian market in Africa. […]