The New Dispensation has significantly strengthened the CCCC’s enforcement powers and introduced a new and focused approach to digital markets in COMESA. In this regard, digital markets are expressly mentioned in the context of merger regulation and dealing with prohibited practices, in particular, abuse of dominance. The New Dispensation introduces merger thresholds applicable to mergers in digital markets, and these differ from the thresholds applicable to non-digital market thresholds. This rightfully or wrongfully signals a recognition that digital markets require special merger regulation unlike other markets, presumably because they are innovative and fast evolving markets with the potential to escape much needed competition regulation.

This recognition is not new. In South Africa, the Competition Commission (SA Commission) set out its approach to digital markets in its revised Competition in the Digital Economy paper published in 2021, which examined the competitive risks associated with digital platforms.
This analysis subsequently informed the SA Commission’s final Small Merger Guidelines, which highlighted the risk to competition and innovation posed by the growing number of acquisitions of digital firms.

While it is accepted that the New Dispensation makes way for a more intentional focus on mergers in digital markets, there has been a notable shift towards more active scrutiny of prohibited practices in Africa, with authorities devoting greater attention to how contractual and structural arrangements limit market access, rather than focusing solely on merger activity. The New Dispensation’s focus on abuse of dominance in digital markets also forms part of a broader evolution in the CCCC’s prohibited practices enforcement toolkit. While merger control has historically been the most visible aspect of COMESA’s work, recent years have seen an increase in prohibited practice investigations, including cases involving restrictive agreements and unilateral conduct affecting cross‑border trade. With specific regard to abuse of dominance, the New Dispensation focuses on digital platforms, data‑driven market power, network effects and the role of firms operating as gateways between businesses and consumers.

Meta investigation

In February 2026, the CCCC initiated its first abuse of dominance investigation under the New Dispensation, into alleged abuse of dominance conduct by Meta Platforms Inc (Meta), relating to changes implemented to the WhatsApp Business Solution terms in the Common Market (COMESA investigation). The investigation concerns the 2025 amendments introduced to the WhatsApp Business Solution terms by Meta. The complaint alleges that these amendments restrict third party artificial intelligence (AI) providers from accessing WhatsApp, a crucial gateway for the AI service providers to their customers. The CCCC alleges that these changes were made unilaterally and may signal that Meta abused its dominant position. The focus of the COMESA investigation is therefore not on consumer use of WhatsApp but rather, access to a business facing interface that allows automated and large scale interaction with customers. The CCCC is further considering whether WhatsApp functions as an important route to market for business users, and whether restricting access may exclude competing AI service providers from related markets. The CCCC has stressed that the investigation is at a preliminary stage and that no findings have been made against Meta yet.
This investigation is therefore best understood not as an isolated development, but as part of a wider move towards more assertive and sustained prohibited‑practice enforcement by the CCCC, now supported by expanded powers and the New Dispensation’s focus on modern markets.

Further, the COMESA investigation was initiated against a backdrop of parallel and related investigations by competition authorities in the European Union (EU) into closely connected conduct affecting Meta and its WhatsApp Business messaging platform.

European proceedings

In December 2025, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) adopted interim measures in an abuse of dominance investigation concerning restrictions imposed on third‑party AI chatbot providers’ access to WhatsApp Business communication tools operated by Meta. The AGCM considered that changes to WhatsApp’s business-facing terms appeared to exclude competing AI chatbot providers, while continuing to allow Meta’s own AI services to operate. Pending the outcome of its investigation, the AGCM ordered the immediate suspension of the contested terms on the basis that they risked causing serious and irreparable harm to competition.

Similarly, the European Commission has launched a formal investigation under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) into related access restrictions involving Meta’s WhatsApp messaging platform across the European economic area (excluding Italy). The European Commission is examining whether restrictions on third‑party AI providers’ access to WhatsApp Business communication tools may prevent competing services from reaching customers, while favouring Meta’s own AI offerings. In February 2026, The European Commission issued a statement of objections to Meta, setting out its preliminary view that the contested WhatsApp Business terms breach Article 102 TFEU. The European Commission has also signalled its intention to consider interim measures to preserve competitors’ access to WhatsApp while the investigation is ongoing.

Conclusion

The COMESA, Italian and EU proceedings reflect parallel enforcement in relation to closely connected conduct, and point to a common concern regarding how control over access to key digital platforms may affect competition in adjacent and emerging markets, particularly where those platforms play an important role in connecting businesses with customers.

For businesses active in digital or data‑driven sectors in the Common Market, the COMESA investigation offers an early indication of the practical application of the New Dispensation and that controlling access to key platforms must align with competition law principles. Firms operating across COMESA member states, particularly those whose business models involve control over access to platforms, or depend on access or the integration of AI-enabled services, should take note of the CCCC’s willingness to deploy its expanded enforcement toolkit and should consider reviewing their contractual arrangements and platform access policies against the standards introduced by the New Dispensation. Although the investigation remains at a preliminary stage and no findings have been made, the road ahead is clear: digital markets in the Common Market will be subject to increasingly rigorous competition oversight.