Willard Mwemba

Willard Mwemba is CEO of the COMESA Competition Commission and an adjunct senior lecturer in the University of Cape Town Department of Commercial Law.

In his role as CEO, he leads the development of regional competition and consumer-protection laws and advises governments on the economic and institutional importance of competitive markets. He regularly reviews regional competition and trade policy and represents the commission before the COMESA Council of Ministers. In this position, he has played a central role in strengthening competition-law enforcement across Africa, including in Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Madagascar, and Eswatini. He has also advised the East African Community Competition Authority.

Previously, he served as director of the commission’s Mergers and Monopolies Department, where he was the department’s founding head. Before joining COMESA in 2013, he worked at Zambia’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Competition Authority, handling high-profile cases and leading investigations into major cartels.

He also serves on the advisory board of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Competition Training Centre for the Middle East and Africa and is a member of the International Chamber of Commerce, where he focuses on competition policy in small and insular economies.

He holds a bachelor’s and an LL.B. from the University of Zambia, a master’s in European Union competition law from King’s College London, and a Ph.D. in competition law from the University of Cape Town.