Prospects and Challenges of Implementing Competition Law in Developing Countries: A Review of the Nigerian Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2019

Abstract

The introduction of a comprehensive competition regime in a developing country comes with a lot of expectations, due to the idea and belief that it will help in fighting harmful practices in the economy and also be a panacea to economic development. However, this is not always the case because the adoption of competition law is neither an end nor magic for development, but a first step in the unending journey of competition regulation. This is due to other factors which could either positively or negatively influence the implementation of the law, for example, the wordings of the law, the capacity of the regulator, the efficiency of the judicial system, among others. This project mirrored the challenges of developing countries in the adoption of competition law, with a focus on Nigeria. It adopted the doctrinal approach to review the provisions of the 2019 Nigerian Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) and analyze its prospects and challenges, while the comparative approach was used to benchmark the South African competition regime with Nigeria to show lessons the latter could learn from the former in the course of its competition regulation. The project pointed out the prospect of the FCCPA but focused more on discussing the several areas of concerns in the Act which could pose challenges for its effective implementation and the attainment of its objectives. The project concluded with recommending and proffering solutions to the identified challenges. This project is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 is a general introduction of the project, while Chapter 2 is the review of literature on competition law and developing countries. Chapter 3 reviews the South African competition regime, while Chapter 4 captures the Nigerian experience and the challenges therein. Chapter 5 concludes by highlighting the prospects of the FCCPA, and ended with recommendations for the challenges identified.