The West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA) has said that creating a unified digital market across ECOWAS could unlock billions of dollars in investments for the region.
According to a statement from the organization, WATRA’s Executive Secretary, Aliyu Aboki, stated this during the opening of the Assembly’s third Working Group meeting in Accra, Ghana.
Aboki emphasized that harmonising digital regulations across the region is a “game changer” for the continent’s development trajectory.
“Regulatory harmonisation transforms fragmented national markets into one larger, more investable region. It’s the gateway to building regional tech champions, improving affordability for consumers, and fostering resilient digital systems,” Aboki said.
Unlocking scale for a 400-million-person market
He noted that despite being home to more than 400 million people, West Africa’s digital economy remains fragmented by disparate national policies. Telecom operators, fintechs, and digital platforms face varying licensing regimes, consumer rules, and spectrum regulations—creating high compliance costs and limiting cross-border scale.
He said WATRA is pushing to eliminate these barriers through coordinated regulatory reform, adding that a Single Digital Market would allow companies to scale more efficiently while offering consumers more affordable and reliable digital services.
“WATRA is not just facilitating dialogue, we are laying the foundation for a seamless regional market where innovation and investment can thrive,” he said.
Three strategic frameworks
WATRA in the statement disclosed that the Accra meeting, hosted by Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA), brought together regulators, private sector leaders, and digital policy experts from across West Africa.
Their task is to develop actionable frameworks in three strategic areas—consumer experience, infrastructure development, and cybersecurity.
According to the statement, each working group is focused on harmonising regional rules that can be adopted nationally:
- Consumer Access and Experience: Developing fair service standards to boost trust and uptake of digital services.
- Infrastructure Development: Aligning policies on spectrum, satellite, and fibre to draw investment and expand regional broadband.
- Cybersecurity: Creating unified standards to protect users and strengthen investor confidence in cross-border digital systems.
“These working groups are where vision meets implementation. They produce home-grown solutions regulators can adapt to national contexts,” said Aboki.
More insights
With 250 million mobile subscribers and 120 million internet users, West Africa’s telecom sector plays a vital role in commerce, governance, and education. In Nigeria, the ICT sector now contributes nearly 15% of GDP, underscoring its strategic importance.
- However, the absence of harmonised digital rules continues to limit regional integration. WATRA believes that with a shared regulatory framework, the region can foster cross-border e-commerce, digital financial inclusion, regional data centres, and seamless mobile roaming.
- WATRA said the outcomes from the Accra sessions will be refined and presented at the next Conference of Regulators for adoption.
- Under Mr. Aboki’s leadership, WATRA is emerging as a driving force behind West Africa’s digital transformation, pushing for policy alignment that creates a larger, safer, and more inclusive digital economy.
