The COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission (CCCC) has issued a stern warning to businesses in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region against exploiting global supply disruptions arising from the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
In a public statement, CCCC Chief Executive Officer Willard Mwemba said the developments overseas have already triggered supply chain bottlenecks, rising logistics costs, and commodity shortages that threaten to push prices upward, further exacerbating inflation across COMESA member states.
“The conflict in any part of the world has ripple effects across global economies,” he said.
“We have already witnessed price shocks and supply deficits of crude oil with knock-on effects on the prices of all other products and services. Crude oil price shocks are likely to result in higher fertiliser costs, which in turn affect food prices, creating an artificial exacerbation of poverty.”
Mwemba emphasised that the CCCC is particularly concerned that some market operators may take advantage of the crisis to engage in anti-competitive conduct and unfair trade practices, including excessive pricing, collusion, hoarding and price gouging.
“Circumstances of this nature do not justify any form of anti-competitive conduct or unfair trade practices,” he stated.
“We wish to warn all undertakings with business presence in COMESA that we shall unapologetically enforce competition and consumer laws to the letter and spirit to ensure the durability and confidence in markets is not eroded.”
The CCCC confirmed it will deploy all available powers to detect, investigate, and penalise infringements of the law, aiming to protect consumers and maintain fair, competitive markets.
Mwemba called on businesses and consumers who experience unfair or anti-competitive practices to report incidents to the commission.
“Maintaining trust in markets is essential to the region’s resilience, recovery, and enhanced consumer welfare,” he added.
“The CCCC stands with honest businesses and consumers during this challenging period and will not allow the crisis to be used as a pretext for collusion, exploitation, or deception.”
However, the commission acknowledged that, under certain circumstances, agreements that would normally be considered anti-competitive may be condoned if they serve a broader public interest.
Regulation 39 of the COMESA Competition and Consumer Protection Regulations allows companies to apply for authorisation to enter agreements if the benefits outweigh potential anti-competitive effects.
Mwemba reiterated the CCCC’s commitment to keeping markets transparent and fair.
“We have been working tirelessly to ensure the proper functioning of markets, including agricultural markets, and to alleviate poverty not only in COMESA member states but across Africa and the world. We will continue to uphold this mandate despite external shocks such as the Middle East crisis.”
The commission’s statement comes at a time when global energy and commodity prices are rising, threatening to strain household budgets and business operations across the region.
By reinforcing competition laws, the CCCC aims to prevent the crisis from being compounded by exploitative market behaviour.