A New Logic for Integration: Why the COMESA–EAC competition pact matters

June 11, 2025 in Editorial, Opinion by Editor

This week’s recent Memorandum of Understanding between the COMESA Competition Commission (CCC) and the East African Community Competition Authority (EACCA) may have escaped the attention of most regional headlines, but it deserves far greater notice. Beneath its technical framing lies an increasingly important question for Africa’s economic future: how do regional blocs move beyond rhetorical commitments to practical integration?

This MoU is, in essence, a blueprint for what functional regionalism should look like. Rather than waiting for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to impose coherence from the top down, COMESA and the EAC are offering a ground-up solution: synchronize enforcement, reduce duplication, and make market rules more predictable for businesses operating across borders.

This is no small shift. For years, the proliferation of national competition regimes—with varying scopes, capacities, and enforcement styles—has created uncertainty for firms, particularly in sectors that span multiple jurisdictions. The absence of clear coordination channels has often resulted in parallel investigations, conflicting rulings, and a regulatory environment that deters rather than facilitates intra-African trade.

The new agreement begins to change that. By setting up focal points, joint investigative frameworks, shared market studies, and coordinated advocacy campaigns, the MoU operationalizes what policymakers often describe in vague terms: regulatory harmonization.

And the timing couldn’t be more strategic. With 19 of 21 COMESA member states and five of six EAC countries having adopted competition laws, the continent is no longer debating whether rules are necessary—it’s now deciding how to align them. For businesses, this pact means less guesswork. For regulators, it means better resource allocation and stronger cases. For consumers, it promises more competitive markets and fairer outcomes.

There’s also a geopolitical signal embedded here. In a world where African countries are frequently at the receiving end of global regulatory decisions—from EU digital rules to US extraterritorial sanctions—the ability to speak with a consolidated regional voice on market issues is both protective and empowering.

It also reflects a quiet evolution in the nature of sovereignty. As African states deepen economic integration, regulatory sovereignty will increasingly be exercised through regional institutions rather than exclusively national ones. Far from diminishing national power, this arrangement enhances it by pooling technical capacity and aligning rules for greater collective impact.

Importantly, the MoU is forward-looking. Its architects have clearly kept the AfCFTA in view. As the continental trade pact takes shape, efforts like this one will be critical in preventing fragmentation. If other Regional Economic Communities—such as SADC or ECOWAS—follow suit, a network of interoperable authorities could gradually emerge, making a future Pan-African Competition Authority more than a pipe dream.

This agreement may be technical in language, but it is political in consequence. It builds a bridge between legal frameworks, between member states, and ultimately between Africa’s regional ambitions and the hard work of implementation. It deserves everybody’s attention—and emulation.