Africa’s Platform Economy at a Crossroads- Designing Fit-for-Purpose Competition Frameworks

Overview

Designing Fit-for-Purpose Competition Frameworks," assesses the opportunities and risks presented by the continent's rapidly expanding digital markets and proposes a tailored competition framework built on the foundation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Competition Protocol. The central theme is that Africa must avoid wholesale transplantation of foreign models, such as the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), and instead design regulations that reflect its unique infrastructure, market maturity, and developmental goals.

📈 The State of Africa's Digital Markets Africa's digital landscape is growing fast, yet unevenly:

• Rapid Expansion: Sub-Saharan Internet users grew by 115% between 2016 and 2021. The internet economy could contribute 5.2% of Africa's GDP (estimated at $180 billion) by 2025. Venture capital funding reached a record $3.1 billion in 2024, spanning sectors like Fintech, Agritech, and Healthtech.
• Mobile-Centricity: Africa is a mobile-first continent, with about 69% of online traffic coming from mobile devices, which is higher than the global average. 
• Key Sectors: Dominance is concentrated in a few foreign-owned platforms across sectors like: 
  • Search and Social Networks: Google captures 96% of search; Meta (Facebook, WhatsApp) dominates social media and messaging due to strong network effects. 
  • Online Marketplaces & App Stores: Pan-African retailers (like Jumia) and global players (AliExpress) lead e-retail, while Google's Play Store holds a de facto gatekeeper role with Android's 85% market share. 
  • Online Intermediation: Companies like Uber and Bolt have scaled, but regulators must monitor high commission rates and entry barriers. 

🚧 Key Challenges and Gaps

Despite the opportunity, structural and regulatory gaps threaten inclusive growth:

• Infrastructure Deficits: Africa suffers from persistent broadband gaps (only 28% fixed broadband access vs. 80% in the EU) and cloud infrastructure shortages (less than 5% of data storage is local). This raises latency and limits the competitiveness of African digital markets.
• Fragmented Regulation: There is a significant lack of harmonised data governance across the continent. About 46 countries have some data/privacy laws, but differing data localisation proposals and enforcement vary widely, raising compliance costs for African digital service exporters.
• DMA Misfit: Wholesale copying of the EU's DMA—with its hard thresholds and prescriptive rules designed for mature Western markets—risks stifling local innovation and misaligning enforcement priorities with Africa’s developmental needs. 

💡 Policy Recommendations (By Priority)

The report provides a list of policy recommendations for African policymakers to build a fit-for-purpose framework.

• Adopt Contextual Gatekeeper Criteria: Define digital market thresholds based on African market sizes, cross-border user counts, and network coverage, rather than simply adopting large EU revenue benchmarks.
• Strengthen Infrastructure: Prioritize investment in broadband, data centers, and cloud capacity through public-private partnerships to lower entry barriers and reduce reliance on overseas data storage.
• Harmonise Digital Laws via RECs: Leverage Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to enact common data protection, cybersecurity, and digital trade laws, promoting mutual recognition of standards to facilitate AfCFTA's implementation.
• Integrate Privacy with Competition: Treat data protection and privacy as a core component of consumer welfare, going beyond price alone. Competition enforcement should consider privacy harms and explore remedies like mandatory data portability and interoperability. 
• Encourage Open Platforms and Interoperability: Mandate open APIs and data portability where necessary, to lower user switching costs and allow local services to compete with dominant global players. 
• Promote Local Innovation: Implement subsidies, tax breaks, and regulatory sandboxes for startups addressing African needs (Fintech, Agritech, Edtech), while protecting them from predatory acquisitions.

The AfCFTA provides the institutional framework for continental competition and digital integration. The path forward involves tailoring rules to African realities, coordinating enforcement across agencies and RECs, and fostering an environment that supports inclusive, competitive growth.