Senegal has agreed to remove mobile roaming charges with Benin, Gambia, Mali and Togo, with the new regime set to take effect on March 1, 2026.
The Senegalese Telecommunications and Postal Regulatory Authority (ARTP) signed memorandums of understanding with regulators from the four countries on December 11, committing all parties to reciprocal roaming terms for their citizens.
Under the agreements, travellers will receive free incoming calls for up to 30 consecutive days while paying local tariffs for mobile services. Surcharges on incoming international and roaming calls will be removed. The same conditions will apply to visitors from Benin, Gambia, Mali and Togo when they are in Senegal.
ARTP Director General Dahirou Thiam said the accords lay the groundwork for closer coordination among national regulators, gradual tariff alignment, and better service quality across borders. For regulators, the move shifts roaming from a revenue tool to an integration instrument.
The agreements sit within a wider regional effort to lower cross-border communication costs. The Economic Community of West African States has pushed for roaming charge elimination as part of its broader market integration agenda. Ivory Coast and Ghana were the first to implement the policy in June 2023. It later expanded to Ghana–Benin and Ghana–Togo links in October 2024, while Togo and Benin have also activated their bilateral arrangement.
Parallel initiatives are emerging outside the ECOWAS framework. Members of the Alliance of Sahel States, which have withdrawn from the bloc, signed a convention in November 2024 to introduce free roaming by the end of that year. The group has signalled interest in extending the mechanism beyond its members, reflected in Mali’s participation in the Dakar signing ceremony. Burkina Faso has also engaged Ghana in discussions aimed at finalising a similar agreement.
Read Also: Zambia Breaks Ground on 100MW Chirundu Solar Plant
ECOWAS argues that high communication costs continue to obstruct trade, labour mobility, and regional business operations. Removing roaming charges is intended to reduce friction in cross-border movement and move the region closer to a single telecommunications market.
Execution, however, remains the test. In other countries, implementation has been slowed by weak inter-operator connections, high call termination fees, and persistent fraud. For Senegal and its partners, meeting the 2026 deadline will depend less on policy intent and more on technical readiness and regulatory follow-through.
By Thuita Gatero, Managing Editor, Africa Digest News. He specializes in conversations around data centers, AI, cloud infrastructure, and energy.
