Digital markets remain a key priority for competition authorities globally, yet few discussions engage rigorously with where the theories of harm lie. This session puts US and European perspectives into a direct and interactive debate, together with counsel acting for the major platforms, to unpack the key pressure points in digital markets enforcement in Europe and the US, even where those debates sit divorced from the African context.

The panel will also discuss relevance, asking what do those theories of harm mean for what is being seen across Africa, and is there a distinct policy or legislative case for intervention in digital markets on the continent? While COMESA has introduced digital markets provisions in its new regulations and Kenya is amending its law to do the same, most African authorities still regulate digital markets under existing legislation of general application.

This session debates whether existing tools are sufficient or whether bespoke provisions are needed, why Kenya and COMESA judged it necessary to expand their laws and whether Western approaches, which are built for developed markets and established players, should simply be transposed or rethought for the continent. The discussion extends to theories of harm relating to digital platforms, algorithmic collusion and artificial intelligence and its regulation, in the African context.