Mobile phone users in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana will no longer have to pay additional fees when crossing borders. The initiative in the four countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is part of a movement to create a Single Network Area (ONA).
In the East African Community (EAC) an initiative is also under way to create single digital markets. Cross-border travelers in Africa face generally high internet and mobile roaming charges.
Regional economic blocs are leading the way in establishing a common framework for a unified digital market. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), through a program focusing on information and communications technologies, is implementing the Single Network Area to boost digital trade.
The Comesa bloc plans to merge and align roaming networks in 29 countries with other regional blocs by 2024.
Furthermore, other regional blocs such as ECOWAS in West Africa and the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (Cemac) have already demonstrated their commitment to eliminating roaming charges, while in East Africa, Kenya, Uganda , Rwanda, South Sudan and, more recently, Tanzania, are leading the way with a functional framework that allows standardized roaming charges beyond their borders.
Reports show that plans are being developed to include Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the East African Community Single Network Area in order to increase the scope of the programme.
African Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies, a private sector-led alliance of information and communication technology associations and key stakeholders, has seen an increase in membership, reflecting increased investment in infrastructure and regional and cross-border frameworks .
All of these efforts are in line with the vision of the Digital Single Market – an African Union-led plan to transform Africa into a digitally empowered continent that can securely access the internet at affordable prices, by 2030.
