Africa’s telecoms space is packed with opportunity but an outdated and fragmented regulatory landscape means that fast, affordable and borderless telephony is still out of reach.
Nic Laschinger, chief technology officer of Euphoria Telecom
Two key barriers are standing in the way: inconsistent regulations and slow spectrum allocation.
For Africa to unlock all the benefits of an innovative, adaptive and responsive digital economy, regional cooperation and smarter regulations should be prioritised.
The regulatory conundrum
Each of Africa’s 54 countries operate with their own rules, licensing regimes and policies. This array of regulations makes it difficult for telecom operators to scale, expand across countries and introduce new services. The biggest impact is on the end user who faces restricted choice, higher prices and poor service as a result.
The International Telecommunication Union’s Regulatory Tracker tracks the maturity of markets based on telecom, ICT and digital policy. A G1 ranking signifies the “command and control approach” of more authoritarian markets. Those countries with a G4 ranking are dubbed “leaders” because of their more integrated approaches.
Africa has made significant strides since 2007, when 45% of countries received a G1 ranking, compared with just 5.7% in 2024. However, just 15% received a G4 ranking in 2024.
To illustrate just how uneven the regulatory playing field is, South Africa achieved a G4 ranking in 2024. Its immediate neighbours Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Eswatini all ranked at G3 in 2024, while Namibia achieved a G2 score.
As another example, last year, ICASA implemented new regulations aimed at reducing mobile termination fees in the South African market which have just come into effect. These are the fees payable to carry voice traffic from one network to another.
Many African countries are putting in concerted effort to reduce these rates but they still vary wildly. For operators playing in various markets, this means additional layers of complexity and different overheads which are ultimately passed on to the consumer.
Perhaps the African Union needs to take a page from the European Union’s playbook. In 2021, the EU introduced uniform maximum mobile termination rate caps for all member states, in an effort to harmonise regulations, increase cross-border competition and lower call rates for users.
Slow spectrum issues
The slow and inconsistent allocation of spectrum across the continent makes things more difficult. South Africa, one of the most advanced telecom markets in Africa, saw spectrum auctions delayed for years, which made the big players stronger and didn’t even let the smaller players onto the pitch.
This issue is not unique to South Africa. Nigeria, one of the continent’s largest economies, only held its first 5G spectrum auction in 2021. In Ghana, high spectrum fees in its 4G auction, resulted in less competition.
Competition at any cost
At the same time, the competitive landscape is shifting. New entrants like Starlink, offering satellite-based internet services, are disrupting traditional models. In countries where telecommunications infrastructure is weak or monopolised, satellite services are showing how innovation can leapfrog barriers such as poor connectivity in rural areas.
We’ve seen this in the rapid uptake of Starlink in South Africa, despite the fact that it is not legal here. Starlink is providing affordable internet access in dozens of other countries across Africa, and South Africa risks becoming a cautionary tale of how slow-moving regulation can fail to accommodate new technologies.
Smart, future-ready regulation is not about any one company or technology. It is about creating a digital economy where African businesses can participate and innovate and people can connect easily and affordably.
For the telecommunications industry to make the most out of the opportunity that exists here, we need to ensure that the playing field and the rules all align with the game that we’re playing.