Tanzania’s New Rules on Abuse of Dominant Position: What the 2026 Regulations Introduce?

Before the Fair Competition (Amendment) Act, 2024, a person was deemed dominant if they could profitably restrain competition for a significant period of time and held a market share exceeding 35%. The law did not list specific acts amounting to abuse and Section 10 only provided a general prohibition against using a dominant position in a way that would prevent, restrict, or distort competition.

The 2024 Amendments, which came into effect on 11 October 2024, introduced key changes: the concept of joint dominance, an increase of the dominance threshold from 35% to 40%, and a specific list of twelve acts constituting abuse of a dominant position. However, several of these acts were left undefined, and no guidance was provided on how the FCC would assess them.

What the 2026 Regulations Introduce On 14 August 2026, the Government published Government Notice No. 244, introducing the Fair Competition (Abuse of Dominant Position) Regulations, 2026. Made under Section 99 of the Fair Competition Act, these Regulations operationalise the 2024 Amendments by providing detailed criteria, definitions, and analytical frameworks for determining dominance and evaluating each form of abuse.

Determining Dominance (Regulation 3) The Regulations set out specific factors the FCC must consider when determining whether a person holds a dominant position. These include whether the person’s market share exceeds 40% for a significant period, customer or supplier reliance on the person’s goods or services, the person’s ability to set prices independently of competitors, countervailing buyer power, competition from imports, control over essential inputs or facilities, and barriers to entry such as economies of scale, transport costs, or government regulation.

Market Assessment (Regulation 4) The FCC is now required to define the relevant market by assessing both the product market and the geographic market, formalising a structured approach that was previously left to the FCC’s discretion.

Twelve Forms of Abuse Now Defined The Regulations provide detailed assessment criteria for the twelve forms of abuse listed in the 2024 Amendments:

Unfair Trading Conditions (Regulation 6) – Covers exploitative pricing, imbalanced contractual terms, excessive obligations, and unilateral alteration of key terms. Where cost data is unavailable, the FCC may rely on cross-market price comparisons.

Predatory Pricing (Regulation 7) – Prices set below cost for a sustained period with the likelihood of recouping losses through future price increases.

Margin Squeeze (Regulation 8) – Where a vertically integrated dominant firm charges downstream prices that prevent efficient competitors from trading profitably. Notably, dominance does not need to be demonstrated in the downstream market.

Cross-Subsidisation (Regulation 9) – Internal cost-shifting between business lines resulting in below-cost pricing that harms competitors or consumers.

Refusal to Deal (Regulation 10) – Unjustified denial of dealing that restricts or distorts competition.

Denial of Access to Essential Facility (Regulation 11) – Where a dominant firm controls infrastructure or resources that cannot reasonably be duplicated and denies access without justification.

Tying and Bundling (Regulation 12) – Requiring customers to purchase additional products as a condition for buying a primary product, where this restricts competition without sufficient efficiency gains.

Price Discrimination (Regulation 13) – Charging different prices to different customers for the same product without cost justification. Loyalty Discounts or Rebates (Regulation 14) – Discount schemes with exclusionary effects that restrict competition.

Abuse of Intellectual Property Rights (Regulation 15) – Covers unjustified refusal to license, excessive royalty rates, discriminatory licensing, strategic patent filing (“patent thickets”), and sham litigation.

Unrelated Supplementary Conditions (Regulation 16) – Making agreements conditional on accepting obligations unrelated to the core subject matter of the agreement.

Key Definitions Introduced The 2026 Regulations formally define key terms that were previously undefined:

Bundling – Products offered jointly (pure bundling) or separately at a higher combined price (mixed bundling).

Essential Facility – Any infrastructure, resource, raw material, or service critical for market functioning that cannot reasonably be duplicated.

Predatory Pricing – A deliberate pricing strategy below cost aimed at eliminating equally efficient competitors.

Tying – Requiring a customer who purchases one product to also purchase another from the dominant firm.

Why It Matters These Regulations represent a landmark step in Tanzania’s competition law framework. They bring greater predictability and transparency to enforcement, filling a gap that existed even after the 2024 Amendments. Businesses operating in Tanzania should take note of several practical considerations:

(a) Companies with market shares approaching or exceeding 40% should assess their competitive position against the structured factors in Regulation 3, considering both individual and joint dominance. (b) Pricing structures, contractual terms, discount schemes, IP licensing practices, and distribution arrangements should be reviewed for potential exposure under the twelve specific forms of abuse. (c) Businesses controlling infrastructure or resources qualifying as “essential facilities” face strict obligations regarding access and risk findings of abuse if access is denied without justification. (d) Internal competition compliance programs should be updated to reflect the specific forms of abuse and assessment criteria now set out in the 2026 Regulations.

The 2026 Regulations close a significant chapter in the evolution of Tanzania’s competition law. While the FCC’s approach to enforcement and interpretation will become clearer over time, businesses are strongly encouraged to align their practices with the new framework proactively.