As the South African-owned Shoprite leaves Ghana’s market with its assets likely to fall into the hands of another player, a consumer protection advocate and economist, Appiah Kusi Adomako, is raising a critical concern about who is watching the market and regulating the deal.
In his latest commentary on Shoprite‘s exit, the West Africa Regional Director of CUTS International points out a glaring regulatory gap.
He notes that Ghana has no active competition or antitrust law, leaving high-stakes transactions like the Shoprite exit completely unregulated from a consumer protection or market fairness standpoint.
In most economies, mergers and acquisitions in major sectors go through strict regulatory review. Competition authorities assess whether a sale would create a monopoly, raise prices, or limit consumer choice. Even in Ghana, sectors like banking and telecommunications are closely monitored when companies merge.
Unfortunately, a competition draft bill, which is expected to fill the void, has been sitting on the shelves since 2007 without any political will to pass it into.
“Ghana lacks a competition or antitrust law, despite having a draft since 2007. This means that the sale and acquisition of Shoprite’s operations will not be reviewed by any local authority to assess potential harm to competition or consumers,” he recounted.
He continued, “Unlike regulated sectors such as banking and telecommunications, where mergers undergo scrutiny, the retail market has no such safeguards. In many countries, regulators examine mergers to prevent monopolies and protect consumers.”
This regulatory vacuum, he says, means that if a dominant chain like Melcom were to acquire Shoprite’s Ghanaian assets, after already replacing GAME stores across key malls, there’s no authority to question or review that move, no matter how it affects consumers or competitors.
In the absence of a competition law, he fears that prices could rise unchecked if fewer companies control the market. Innovation may suffer as dominant players face less pressure to improve while smaller businesses may be squeezed out, unable to compete on scale or pricing.
With no competition authority in place, the competition economist is calling on the Ministry of Trade and Industry to evaluate the transaction from a competition policy perspective, even if informally.
“The absence of oversight makes it crucial for the Ministry of Trade and Industry to evaluate this transaction from a competition policy perspective,” he indicated.
For him, Ghana’s delay in passing a Competition Law now has real-world consequences. As the country’s economy becomes more modern and urbanized, so is the growing need for fair pricing and consumer right protection.
