Need for Telecoms Regulatory Sandboxes in Africa

Two weeks ago, 26-28 April 2023, Smart Africa held the 6th edition of Transform Africa Summit (#TAS2023) in #VictoriaFalls, #Zimbabwe. Five (5) Heads of State, H.E. President Emmerson Mnangagwa , the President of #Zimbabwe (host country), H.E. President Paul Kagame of #Rwanda, His Majesty King Mswati III of the Kingdom of #Eswatini, H.E. President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera of #Malawi and H.E. Hakainde Hichilema of #Zambia graced the occassion. Also present were several ICT Ministers from Africa and other countries; and high-level representatives from various International organisations and donor partners. It's estimated nearly 4000 delegates attended the summit, all drawn from 91 countries around the globe.

In the margins of #TAS2023, Smart Africa Digital Academy - SADA in partnership with Cenerva Limited held a session on #Regulatory #Sandboxes in the #Telecommunication sector in #Africa. The session was attended by over 20 regulators from participating African countries.

During the session it was noted that a number of #African countries have either initiated or are considering developing #Regulatory #Sandboxes in their respective #Telecommunication sectors.

#Telecommunications #Sandboxes provide an environment where new telecom products, services, and applications can be developed and tested in a controlled setting. This allows Telecom Operators, including Mobile Network Operators (#MNOs) and developers to experiment with new merging technologies and services without the risk of disrupting existing systems or causing harm to consumers.

Since 2016, there has been a steady growth around the globe for establishment of #Regulatory #Sandboxes in the #Financial and #Fintech sector. In #Africa, a number of countries (e.g. #Kenya, #Nigeria, #SouthAfrica, #Uganda, #SierraLeone, #Mauritius, #Ghana, #Mozambique and #Rwanda) have established #Regulatory #Sandboxes frameworks or similar instruments in the #Financial or #Fintech sectors.

Today, there is a greater need for #African countries to establish #Regulatory #Sandboxes in their jurisdictions. This will encourage telecom operators, application developers and service providers to experiment with new emerging technologies and services. These services will spur economic growth of the continent, especially now that the continent has fully ratified and established the African Continental Free Trade Area (#AfCFTA). Secondly, African countries need to establish #trust in exchanging trading information, especially cross-border data flows, which remains a concern for a number AU member states. Establishing #Regulatorry #Sandboxes in the #telecommunication sector will certainly address these concerns. Thirdly, #Regulatorry #Sandboxes will enable products and services to be deployed to the market securely and at lower cost.

There is urgent need for African countries to establish Regulatory Sandboxes in their respective Telecommnications sectors.

#Kenya and #Rwanda have made notable efforts towards establishing #Regulatorry #Sandboxes in their respective #telecommunication sectors.

• #Kenya’s emerging technology regulatory sandbox framework is an initiative by the Communications Authority of Kenya (#CAKenya), still on-going in 2023, which aims to allow telecommunication companies, technology start-ups, and other players in the sector to test new products, services, and business models in a controlled environment.
• #Rwanda has embarked on creating guidelines for the #Regulatory #Sandbox under the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (#RURA), which are still at the draft stage.

Overall, the implementation of #Regulatory #Sandboxes in the #telecommunication sector in Africa has the potential to:

• Boost #innovation and encourage the growth of new services and products across the continent.
• Create a balance between introducing #innovative services and #consumer protection in the telecom regulatory space.

African telecommunications regulators have called for further #research and #capacity building on #Regulatory #Sandboxes and establishment of a continental #framework for implementing #Regulatory #Sandboxes in the #telecommunication sectors.