Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja
The Director, Regional African Satellite Communications Organisation (RASCOM), Timothy Ashong, has underscored the need for African countries to collectively invest in telecommunications infrastructure with border areas to improve connectivity.
Ashong made the call, Tuesday during a roundtable meeting at the ongoing African Telecommunication Union (ATU) conference, Abuja 2026
Ashong said Africa needed collective efforts to provide good connectivity on the. continent.
“No single institution is able to provide good network on its own. It requires collective effort. And therefore, we always say that Africa should rely on only one connectivity solution, beginning with broadband fibre coming into the country.
“We need to invest heavily on both the terrestrial and also the satellite aspects. This will be able to provide seamless connectivity in our border areas. Most of our border areas are hard to reach because, you know, the telecom operators on the terrestrial line also have to coordinate a lot with the next country.
“Satellite provides connectivity for entire Africa. And this is what we have to rely on. We have to invest heavily on the satellite platform,” he said.
Ashong also called for the collaboration of all satellite communication organisations to bridge the digital gap.
He said, “As a regional African satellite communications organisation, we are ready to collaborate with the African institution to ensure that we make that happen to Africa, to bridge the digital divide to the rest of the world and make Africa connectivity very strong.”
Speaking at the conference, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida called on African telecom regulators to have a stronger collaboration to build a robust network with intelligence ecosystem that supports evidence-based regulatory decisions across the continent
“Very often, the challenge that one regulator is trying to solve has already been encountered in one form or another by a colleague elsewhere on the continent.
“The question is how we make that exchange of experience more deliberate, more systematic and more useful to our institutions,” he said.
In her remarks, the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management (ECSM), NCC, Rimini Makama, said Africa’s digital communications landscape had become increasingly complex with the rapid expansion of broadband, satellite services, AI, cloud computing and digital public infrastructure.
“The challenge is not collecting data. The challenge is turning it into better decisions.
“As our digital markets become increasingly interconnected, we share common responsibilities in protecting consumers, promoting competition, attracting investment and ensuring resilient communications networks,” she said.