Mergers and takeovers: The Jurisdiction of the competition and consumer protection commission and its impact on consumer protection

Abstract

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission was created under Section 4 of the Competition and Fair Trading Act which Act has now been repealed and replaced by the Competition and Consumer Protection Act No. 24 of 2010, which Act has continued the existence of the Commission. The Commission is mandated to encourage and promote competition within the Zambian Economy and in an effort to do so, it is mandated with the approval of mergers and takeovers which mergers may be detrimental to competition in the economy. This research endeavours to establish the impact that merger control has on the consumer. Merger control is not an end in itself but a means to an end. Competitive economies are a requirement for better products, innovation and better prices. Consumers on the other hand are the end beneficiaries of competition, thus the importance of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. The Competition and Consumer Protection Act sets out the extent of the jurisdiction of the Commission exercisable in the review of mergers and takeovers. In a bid to establish the extent of jurisdiction of the Commission this paper addressed the establishment of the Commission and it functions therein. The paper then assessed mergers and takeovers in general and then moved on to assess mergers and takeovers in the Zambian context as provided in the Competition and Consumer Protection Act. The paper then endeavoured to explore the jurisdiction of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in relation to mergers and takeovers and its impact on consumer protection. And then a comparative study of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the European Competition Regime was undertaken to evaluate the efficiency of the Commission.