KEPSA on 23^rd June, 2025 advocated reforms in the ‘National Stakeholders’ Consultation Workshop’ organized by the EAC Competition Authority (EACCA) and the State Department for East African Community Affairs. This focused workshop was held to help inform the upcoming EACCA 2nd Strategic Plan, 2025/26-2029/30, in an inclusive dialogue with all top national stakeholders.

The EAC Competition Authority is developing its second strategic plan with focus on:

• Cross-border anti-competitive practices regulation
• Market dominance and merger oversight
• Consumer protection across partner states
• Technical assistance initiatives to help member countries implement competition laws

Key Takeaways from the Meeting:

The Strategic Plan will address, amongst other things, the need of cross-border competition law enforcement, particularly regarding price fixing, monopoly, or unfair mergers.

Stakeholders suggested that merger processes in all EAC Partner States should be standardized as a way of reducing the duplication and costs to businesses.

EACCA also saw the importance of being more active in the private sector, especially in training for compliance and digital markets regulation.

Issues related to the digital economy, like monopolistic platform power or unfair data practices, had also been flagged as a new area of interest.

Sustainable resource mobilization was highlighted as critical, and the private sector as a possible co-partner in research and advocacy.

Some of the ways forwards agreed upon:

Propose establishing a Regional Competition Research Fund supported by the private sector and donors.

Proposed to develop a Competition Compliance Toolkit for SMEs in partnership with business associations.

Recommend that EACCA create a Business Compliance and Education Unit.

Propose to EACCA to collaborate on a policy brief or research paper analyzing the state of digital competition in the EAC region.

Advise for the formulation of EAC Competition Compliance Guidelines that should be adopted by all Partner States.