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Navigating Economic Inequalities Alongside African Digital Market Integration: The Role of the AfCFTA Competition Protocol

Franziska Sucker

Legal Issues of Economic Integration2025https://doi.org/10.54648/leie2025002article
ABDC A
Weight
0.41

Abstract

p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I"The global rise of digital trade has shifted economic inequalities, narrowing gaps in some regions while exacerbating disparities between Africa and more digitally advanced areas. The massive dominance of Big Techs in digital markets has concentrated economic bene/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height: 107%;font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb;mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb"fi/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I"ts among a few large players, often bypassing local African /spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb;mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb"fi/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I"rms. The AfricanContinental Free TradeArea (AfCFTA) aims to enhance intra-African trade to foster economic growth with its newly adopted AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade focusing on integrating African digital markets. However, without careful regulation, this integration risks deepening existing disparities. Given that Big Techs/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf.I+20",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf\.I+20""’ /spanspan style="font-size: 10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family: AdvOTecfccdcf_I"dominance is a key driver of these imbalances, I explore how the AfCFTA/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "AdvOTecfccdcf.I+20",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf\.I+20""’/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I"s Competition Protocol can be leveraged to navigate them. The Competition Protocol, with its multilayered approach to competition regulation, o/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%; font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb;mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb"ff/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I"ers a framework for ensuring digital trade fosters equitable economic development across Africa. It tackles anti-competitive conduct in cases with a continental dimension, such as the abuse of economic dependence by gatekeepers, mandates support for regional and national authorities through technical assistance and capacity-building, and promotes cooperation and coordinated enforcement between all three jurisdictional levels. While not a complete solution, the Protocol represents a signi/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:107%;font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb;mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I+fb"fi/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:AdvOTecfccdcf_I"cant step toward ensuring Africa/spanspan style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf.I+20",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf\.I+20""’/spanspan style="font-size: 10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"AdvOTecfccdcf_I",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family: AdvOTecfccdcf_I"s digital market integration promotes equitable development./span o:p/o:p

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.54648/leie2025002

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@article{franziska2025,
  title        = {{Navigating Economic Inequalities Alongside African Digital Market Integration: The Role of the AfCFTA Competition Protocol}},
  author       = {Franziska Sucker},
  journal      = {Legal Issues of Economic Integration},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.54648/leie2025002},
}

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Navigating Economic Inequalities Alongside African Digital Market Integration: The Role of the AfCFTA Competition Protocol

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Evidence weight

0.41

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.25 × 0.4 = 0.10
M · momentum0.55 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

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