The latest African roaming agreement comes from the west of the continent, where the governments of Liberia, The Gambia and Sierra Leone have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at reducing telecommunications costs through improved roaming services.
The agreement, which covers voice, SMS and data services, is set to begin its phased implementation on 2 May 2025, allowing travellers from Liberia to Sierra Leone to receive calls free of charge and make calls, send SMSs, and use mobile data at local rates without the need for a new SIM card.
From 1 July, citizens of Liberia and The Gambia will also be able to enjoy similar benefits without incurring additional international roaming charges. Some 16 million people in total live in the three countries.
According to Liberia’s Oracle News Daily, the initiative, driven by the Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA) in collaboration with the National Communications Authority of Sierra Leone and the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority of The Gambia, seeks to promote economic growth and ease communication for citizens traveling within the three countries.
There is still some way to go until all West Africans can roam anywhere without facing increased charges. However, the LTA Chairman Abdullah Kamara has been quoted as saying after the signing: “With these MoUs, we are making decisive progress towards implementing the ECOWAS regulation on roaming within the region, an initiative aimed at eliminating high roaming charges.”
Change is most certainly coming. Among a growing number of agreements in Africa, Ghana last year implemented free roaming with Benin and Togo and 2023 saw a Senegal-Mauritania deal.
Source: extensia.tech
