Angola carries on in the path to build up the steps so that the country will eventually have a legal framework in place for the oversight and control of competition in the market. This will not yet be operational, pending the approval of further statutes.

On October 12, 2018, secondary legislation to the Competition Act (Law No 5/18, of 10 May 2018) was approved (through Presidential Decree No. 240/18), setting out and detailing certain rules and procedures necessary for the entry into force of the Act, notably in relation to the thresholds for merger notifications to the Competition Regulatory Authority to be mandatory and on the dominant position concept.

The thresholds for mandatory merger notifications are:

i.    Market share equal or above 50% in the relevant market for the product or service;
ii.    Market share below 50% but equal to or above 30% in the relevant market for the product or service, when turnover / revenues obtained in Angola, in the last financial year, by at least two companies involved in the merger is Kz 450,000,000 (approx. USD 1,450,000 / EUR 1,286,000, at the current exchange rate); or
iii.    The parties’ aggregate turnover / revenues obtained in Angola in the last financial year, was above Kz 3,500,000,000 (approx. USD 11,280,000 / EUR 10,003,000, at the current exchange rate).

A dominant position is defined taking into consideration the market share in relation to a product or service, when this equals or exceeds 50%. However, the existence of significant barriers to entry in the market may indicate that one or more undertakings hold a dominant position even when the market share is below 50%.

Companies established or operating in Angola need to move ahead with checking whether their practices and procedures are in compliance with the law.  Those envisaging M&A operations need to monitor when these will become subject to mandatory filing.

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