06 August 2024

The West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA) is hoping to encourage infrastructure sharing to lower the cost of internet access in West Africa.

The executive secretary of the body, Aliyu Aboki, suggested that infrastructure like gateways and data centres are facilities that could be shared by countries in the region.

However, lack of interconnectivity is another issue driving up the cost of telecom services in the sub-region. For content hosted in one African country to be accessed in another African country, it must first go through Europe via submarine cables because of the lack of direct connectivity among data centres.

Increasing internet penetration, mobile connectivity, and a tech-savvy youth population have led to rapid growth in West Africa’s digital economy. WATRA figures suggest that the digital economy currently contributes around US$30 billion annually to the region’s GDP. However, the cost of internet access across West African countries is still high.