Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi and Zambia pledge to scrap mobile roaming charges
June 19th 2023
The initiative is expected to facilitate and improve electronic communications in the Southern African region. Other regional organizations on the continent are implementing similar initiatives.
Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi and Zambia have pledged to scrap mobile roaming charges between them from next August. This should allow mobile phone users to stay connected when traveling outside of their home network’s country of coverage at no additional cost.
This project should notably reduce costs, facilitate and improve electronic communications in Southern Africa. It should also facilitate the free movement of people, goods and services, accelerating trade, among other things.
The initiative is part of the desire of the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to set up a single network area (ONA) in order to move closer to a single digital market. The countries of the Community have been negotiating since 2014 for the implementation of a single roaming tariff project. In 2019, 13 out of 15 countries had already joined the project.
“ The intention is essentially to remove the rigidities linked to trade barriers. In addition to what has been said about One Stop Border Posts in order to improve trade and eliminate all barriers to trade, it is important that SADC countries, including Zambia, remove customs fees. roaming on calls, which will make the region one of the first, if not the first, to do so, ” said Félix Mutati, Zambian Minister of Technology and Science.
Recall that the countries of the East African Community (EAC) and those of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have also implemented similar projects.
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