It’s time to put the MEA into EMEA competition
As Competition law coverage continues to expand beyond Europe, Chambers’ Global Guide is increasingly reflecting the growing importance of the Middle East and Africa. This article explores how and why Competition rankings across MEA are developing - and where research may head next.
When trying to explain my role as a Principal Research Specialist for Competition at Chambers and Partners, I usually say that I cover all of the Competition Law sections in Europe “and a small number in Africa and the Middle East”.
For a long time, Competition Law sections in Chambers and Partners Global Guide have been limited to South Africa and Israel, but we are beginning to see a slow but noticeable expansion, either as separate tables or as part of another section.
In Africa, Kenya became our second jurisdiction, when individuals were ranked in the Global 2021 Guide, followed by Nigeria in the 2025 Guide. Competition Litigators in Egypt were recognised in the 2024 Guide as a category of our Dispute Resolution table. The 2027 Guide will see us conduct research into the Competition Law field in Morocco for the first time.
Saudi Arabian Competition lawyers began to be ranked in the Global 2022 Guide, while Competition lawyers in the UAE make their bow for the first time in the new 2026 rankings, as part of the Regulatory rankings.
What is behind this expansion? To some extent, it is due to lawyers in countries we already rank highlighting cross-border work with jurisdictions we do not yet cover. For example, some of the impetus behind adding Morocco came from speaking with French lawyers doing a lot of multi-jurisdictional work. Equally, several of the separate Competition law rankings have grown out of Corporate/Commercial ranking tables (for example in Kenya), with new Competition Authorities devoting much of their initial work to merger control filings and so the rise in this work has led either to individuals slowly switching focus, or to firms feeling the need to hire a Competition law specialist.
Additionally, governments are becoming more active, with new legislation increasing the workload in this area. For example, a law introduced in Saudi Arabia in 2019 has led to a huge rise in the number of merger filings reviewed by the authority and has led to the authority more than doubling in size since then – which of course means it has the resources now to start broadening its scope.
Despite this growth, it must be said that Competition law in the Middle East and Africa is still not as developed as in many of the jurisdictions we cover for the Chambers Europe Guides. Many of the newer tables currently only recognise individual lawyers, as a reflection that firms still seem to have small benches in this area.
Additionally, while we are getting more engagement in the region, this is still not comparable to the engagement we get in European jurisdictions. The 166 people we spoke to for South Africa, Israel, Kenya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and the UAE was only six more than responded to us in Germany alone, and the combined number of submissions across those jurisdictions was half the number we received for the Belgium Competition section.
We are, however, keen to continue growing our coverage, as shown by the fact that we will be carrying out research in Morocco for the 2027 Guide.
Where might be next? Lawyers in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Tanzania have all been mentioned while researching other jurisdictions, so if you are a Competition law specialist in the Middle East or Africa keen to see your country join the growing number in the Global Guide, please feel free to get in touch and make your case!