CCC deepens strategic cooperation on competition policy and IP rights

July 17, 2025 in Business, Policy, Trade & Industry by Editor

The Chief Executive Officer of the COMESA Competition Commission (CCC), Dr. Willard Mwemba, has held a series of high-level bilateral discussions aimed at strengthening the enforcement of competition and consumer protection policies across the COMESA region and beyond.

Held on the sidelines of the 9th United Nations Conference on Competition and Consumer Protection in Geneva, the meetings underscore CCC’s deepening role in promoting a harmonised, pro-development regulatory environment in Africa.

In talks with Giovanni Napolitano, Director of Intellectual Property and Competition Policy at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Mwemba discussed the alignment of competition enforcement with the evolving landscape of intellectual property (IP) rights. The two officials explored opportunities for institutional collaboration focused on building capacity among regulators and enforcement agencies in COMESA member states.

The discussion covered the development of joint technical initiatives, knowledge exchange platforms, and training programmes to address policy overlaps and foster an integrated approach to regulating innovation, competition, and consumer welfare in regional markets.

In a separate engagement, Dr. Mwemba met Djibouti’s Minister of Trade and Tourism, H.E. Mohamed Warsama Dirieh. The two leaders exchanged views on strengthening Djibouti’s legal and institutional frameworks for competition and consumer protection, with a focus on creating transparent and fair markets that can boost investor confidence and safeguard consumer rights in the Horn of Africa.

Additionally, Dr. Mwemba held bilateral talks with Hon. Michael Yeung Sik Yuen, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Protection of Mauritius, accompanied by Mrs. Manorama Mathura, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry. The meeting reviewed progress on the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in March 2025 between the CCC and Mauritius’ Ministry of Commerce and Consumer Protection.

The MoU outlines cooperation in the enforcement of consumer protection laws and provides a framework for joint actions, including information exchange, capacity building, and coordinated enforcement efforts across the COMESA region.

“These engagements are part of our broader strategy to build synergies across national and international institutions to ensure markets function efficiently and equitably,” Dr. Mwemba said after the meetings. “As the policy frontiers between competition law, IP rights, and consumer protection converge, cooperation and coherence become vital.”

The discussions reflect CCC’s continued emphasis on fostering regulatory consistency and technical cooperation among member states as Africa prepares to operationalize a continent-wide trade regime under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).