Artificial intelligence has become the foundation of many of the world’s largest platforms. Messaging apps, social networks, e-commerce ecosystems, and search engines increasingly rely on AI to shape user experiences, manage data flows, and enable new services. While this presents tremendous opportunities for innovation, it also raises critical questions about fairness and competition. When a few dominant platforms control both the infrastructure and the AI tools built on top of it, smaller developers and startups can be easily excluded, creating a concentration of power that can stifle innovation.
The recent scrutiny by Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) into Meta Platforms over access to WhatsApp highlights these risks. By limiting access to Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that allow third-party AI chatbots to operate on WhatsApp, dominant platforms can deliberately shape which innovations succeed. Startups with promising technologies may fail not because of technical limitations, but because access to users and data is restricted. In this context, regulatory intervention is crucial to ensure a level playing field.
Transparency is one key approach. Platforms that act as digital gatekeepers should clearly define the rules governing access to APIs, integration tools, and data flows. Predictable, objective standards reduce uncertainty for innovators and encourage investment in new solutions. Non-discriminatory treatment is equally important. Platforms should not give preferential access or technical advantages to their own AI tools over third-party offerings, ensuring competition is driven by quality and innovation rather than structural advantage.
Interoperability and data portability are also central to promoting competition. Users should be able to move their data across platforms easily, and third-party AI tools should be able to integrate effectively without unnecessary barriers. Lowering these switching costs prevents markets from tipping entirely toward one dominant platform and allows new entrants to gain traction.
Proactive regulation is another critical element. Ex-ante safeguards for large platforms can prevent anti-competitive behaviours from becoming entrenched. Combined with initiatives that support local AI startups, research, and innovation hubs, such measures help create a competitive ecosystem rather than merely constraining dominant firms.
In the age of platform AI, fair competition is not about punishing scale or limiting innovation. It is about ensuring that access, opportunity, and growth remain open to all players. Regulators who act thoughtfully today will determine whether emerging markets, including Africa, can develop dynamic, inclusive, and competitive AI-driven digital economies.
