The vision of a digitally connected West Africa is rapidly becoming a reality, as more countries in the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS implement free roaming agreements. This week, Liberia and Sierra Leone officially activated their free roaming service, allowing citizens to communicate across borders without incurring expensive international roaming fees.
This latest development marks another significant milestone for the ECOWAS Free Roaming Initiative, which aims to foster regional integration and economic growth by eliminating barriers to communication. The journey began in June 2023 when Ghana and Cote dIvoire pioneered the first bilateral agreement. Following their success, Ghana expanded the service to include Togo and Benin in October 2024, and signed a deal with The Gambia to be implemented in the first half of 2025.
The agreements, which are being formalized through bilateral and tripartite memorandums of understanding, allow travelers to receive calls for free and pay local rates for outgoing calls and data for up to 30 days. This has been a game-changer for businesses and individuals, as it removes the inconvenience of purchasing new SIM cards for every country visited.
Telecom regulators from various nations, including the Liberia Telecommunications Authority LTA and Sierra Leone's National Communications Authority NatCA, are actively working to expand the network. While the regional-wide implementation faces challenges such as high interconnection fees and the lack of direct links between some operators, the momentum of these bilateral deals is paving the way for a more unified digital landscape.
