Burkina Faso and Ghana move to scrap roaming fees in major cross-border deal 🇧🇫📡🇬🇭

Cliquez ici pour lire en français

On the sidelines of the 2025 Digital Week, Burkina Faso’s Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (ARCEP) signed two major agreements on November 21, 2025. The deals aim to strengthen cross-border connectivity, cut communication costs, and support digital integration across the region — a strategic move for both countries.

Moving toward free roaming with Ghana 📶

The first agreement lays the groundwork for a free-roaming regime between Burkina Faso and Ghana. In practice, travelers from either country will soon see roaming charges either eliminated or drastically reduced.

This shift is expected to ease both human and economic mobility in a region where roaming fees still pose a barrier to travel and cross-border trade. By removing these extra costs, the two nations hope to enable smoother communication and strengthen ties between their populations.

The initiative also aligns with broader efforts across Africa to harmonize telecom policies, placing Burkina Faso and Ghana among the frontrunners in pushing for inclusive, affordable connectivity.

Improving cross-border spectrum coordination 📡

Bilateral Burkina Faso–Ghana agreement

The second agreement focuses on radio-frequency coordination — a critical issue in border regions where telecom signals from neighboring countries often overlap. In collaboration with Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA), Burkina Faso has finalized a cooperation framework to harmonize spectrum use for terrestrial services. The document builds on a process launched in 2020 and refined through a virtual meeting held in August 2025.

It sets clear rules on transmission power, electromagnetic field thresholds, and minimum separation distances to prevent harmful interference and ensure consistent service for users living near the border. This improved coordination also lays the groundwork for deploying future high-speed networks such as 5G/IMT.

A regional framework for the Alliance of Sahel States

Parallel to the bilateral efforts, ARCEP also signed a spectrum-management agreement with the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which includes Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Drafted in Niamey in October 2025, the framework replaces older 2018 regulations and adapts spectrum policy to today’s needs — from rising mobile traffic to 4G/5G expansion, mission-critical communications, and rural telephony.

The agreement strengthens digital cooperation within the AES and enables more forward-looking planning of radio resources in a fast-moving technological landscape.

Pushing toward more reliable and affordable connectivity 🏗️

For Burkinabè authorities and their regional partners, these agreements mark a decisive step toward a stronger, more affordable, and better-regulated digital ecosystem.

Aligned with ITU Radio Regulations, the new frameworks now serve as reference points for future cross-border coordination. Administrations will need to monitor technical developments and regularly update the provisions to ensure efficient spectrum usage.

Telecom operators — Moov Africa, Orange, and Telecel in Burkina Faso, alongside MTN, AT, and Telecel in Ghana — are now expected to roll out the changes rapidly. The result should be fewer dropped calls, fewer interferences, and genuinely accessible cross-border communication.

👉🏾 Do you think these partnerships could work at scale across all African countries? Share your thoughts!