The West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA) is seeking a unified digital market across the ECOWAS region, aiming to unlock investment, drive innovation, and create inclusive digital opportunities for over 400 million Africans living in the region.
The executive secretary of WATRA, Mr. Aliyu Yusuf Aboki, at the opening of the third meeting of WATRA’s Working Groups in Ghana, said regulatory harmonisation is critical to transforming West Africa’s fragmented digital landscape into a cohesive and investable market.
“WATRA is not just facilitating dialogue, we are laying the foundation for a seamless regional market where innovation and investment can thrive. A unified digital market means lower costs, increased efficiency, and more opportunities for our people and businesses,” Aboki averred.
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The four-day high-level meeting, hosted by Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA), brings together telecom regulators, private sector stakeholders, digital policy experts, and development partners to shape regional frameworks around three strategic areas: consumer experience, infrastructure development, and cybersecurity.
The ECOWAS region, with its massive population and growing mobile and internet penetration, is brimming with digital potential. However, inconsistent national regulations have created a patchwork of policies that deter investment, complicate cross-border operations, and limit the scalability of digital services.
Aboki argued that harmonising rules, such as licensing regimes, spectrum management, and consumer protection, would transform the region into a single, efficient market that attracts global and regional investors.
“Regulatory harmonisation transforms fragmented national markets into one larger, more investable region. It is the gateway to building regional tech champions, improving affordability for consumers, and fostering resilient digital systems,” he noted.
WATRA’s Working Groups serve as technical engines for this transformation. They are currently developing model frameworks that ensure fair service standards and boosting consumer trust to expand digital inclusion. The frameworks will also align infrastructure policies on spectrum, fibre, and connectivity to draw investment and deepen access and establish shared cybersecurity standards to safeguard users, protect cross-border transactions, and build investor confidence.
Aboki averree that the working groups produce actionable, home-grown solutions that can be adapted by national regulators to improve regional interoperability and trust.
With over 250 million mobile subscribers and 120 million internet users, West Africa’s telecommunications industry plays a transformative role in economic development, education, governance, and innovation. In Nigeria alone, ICT contributes nearly 15 percent to the country’s GDP. Still, the absence of a harmonised digital regulatory framework has stifled regional scale.
Aboki believes a unified market would unlock billions of dollars in economic value by enabling seamless mobile roaming, expanding digital financial inclusion, boosting cross-border e-commerce, and supporting regional cloud infrastructure.
“A Single Digital Market in West Africa will deliver real value to our citizens and businesses. It will allow startups, fintechs, and infrastructure providers to scale efficiently across borders, driving regional growth,” he said.
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The Accra meeting is expected to produce refined recommendations and technical outputs that will be presented for validation at WATRA’s next conference of regulators. The goal is to provide a shared blueprint that enhances regional alignment while accommodating national specificities.
Ghana’s acting director-general of the NCA, Mr. Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko, expressed support for the initiative, noting Ghana’s leadership in regional telecom efforts such as ECOWAS free roaming and cybersecurity.
