Competition Law Enforcement in Emerging Economies of Sub-Saharan Africa - The Nigerian Experience

Uwadi, Enyinnaya Chimezirim (2025) Competition Law Enforcement in Emerging Economies of Sub-Saharan Africa - The Nigerian Experience. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

This thesis investigates how competition law can achieve credible enforcement within the institutional, political and socio-economic conditions of emerging economies, using Nigeria as the central case study. It argues that the effectiveness of a competition regime depends not on the transplantation of foreign 'best practice' rules but on their alignment with domestic institutional capacities, governance incentives, judicial design and broader development realities. The core claim advanced is that credible enforcement is determined by institutional fitness and political feasibility rather than legislative form alone.

The thesis adopts a primarily doctrinal methodology, complemented by contextual analysis and comparative insight. It examines the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2019 and associated regulatory instruments, the Competition Authority's and Tribunal's decisions, and sector-specific legislation and policy materials. The enquiry situates the FCCPA within Nigeria's political economy; evaluates its substantive framework and early enforcement record; assesses institutional design choices, with particular emphasis on concurrency and regulatory coordination; analyses the mixed appellate structure and uncertainties surrounding standards of review; and evaluates the treatment of state-owned enterprises under competition law alongside Nigeria's engagement with regional and continental regimes, including the AfCFTA Competition Protocol.

The thesis finds that although the FCCPA establishes a comprehensive legal regime with provisions that align with foreign models, its enforcement trajectory is constrained by institutional fragmentation, coordination deficits under the concurrency framework, limited judicial specialisation, political sensitivities surrounding SOEs and the absence of clear mechanisms for managing the interface between domestic and supranational authority. These constraints reflect deeper governance dynamics that inhibit the translation of formal rules into consistent regulatory outcomes.

The thesis makes three key contributions. First, it provides a contextual explanation for why the FCCPA's ambitious legal framework has produced limited enforcement in practice. Second, it provides one of the earliest comprehensive scholarly analyses of the FCCPA post-enactment, its formative enforcement practices, and its interactions with the regional multilevel regulatory environment. Third, it advances an integrated reform agenda aimed at strengthening the competition authority's institutional, operational, and financial independence, improving concurrency arrangements, enhancing judicial expertise, ensuring competition neutrality for SOEs, and supporting coherent engagement with regional and continental regimes. Collectively, these insights offer a grounded template for designing context-appropriate competition regimes in similarly placed emerging economies of sub-Saharan Africa.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	22 Jun 2026 08:42
Last Modified:	22 Jun 2026 09:00
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/103459
DOI:

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