The gatekeepers’ feast: How Africa’s hybrid regulatory farce feasts on its own digital future

mountkenyatimes.co.ke Sep 16, 2026

The gatekeepers’ feast: How Africa’s hybrid regulatory farce feasts on its own digital future

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Sep 16, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

In 2025, Google dominates African search traffic, while Safaricom controls 62.7 % of Kenya’s mobile broadband, creating powerful choke points that extract value from digital commerce. African regulators have drafted a hybrid framework combining ex‑ante prohibitions from the AfCFTA Competition Protocol and COMESA’s 2025 rules with ex‑post investigative tools, yet enforcement remains weak. Kenya’s Competition Authority has probed digital credit, USSD access, and food delivery, and Parliament is drafting a bill to recognize strategic market positions below 40 % and curb bargaining abuse. The result is a regulatory façade that offers little real disruption to entrenched gatekeepers.

💡 Why It Matters

· The gap between policy rhetoric and enforcement threatens to entrench digital monopolies, stifling competition and limiting consumer choice across the continent.

Capsules Policies

Read full article on mountkenyatimes.co.ke

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