ACER Conference

Cartel settlements, leniency and penalties in African jurisdictions

Cartel settlements, leniency and penalties in African jurisdictions

Thando Vilakazi

Representatives of competition authorities from various African countries frankly discussed cartel penalties, settlement and leniency programmes at the CCRED Annual Competition and Economic Regulation Week in March 2015 in Zimbabwe. In this discussion, authorities highlighted the challenges of enforcement actions involving complex collusive conduct, the need for deterrent penalties, the lack of local case precedent developed through rigorous contested hearings, and the resource constraints which hamper enforcement actions and deterrence in particular.

Reflections on institutional design in African regulatory agencies

Reflections on institutional design in African regulatory agencies

Jonathan Klaaren

A panel at the recent ACER Week Conference in Victoria Falls discussed and give views on a question that is often neglected in discussions of competition law and policy: institutional design. The speakers came from a number of competition authorities and economic regulators from the Southern African region and played prominent – sometimes preeminent – roles in the operation of these bodies.