African nations adopt plan for cheaper internet, smartphones

African countries have adopted a new declaration committing to cheaper internet access, affordable smartphones and technology-neutral regulations as part of a continent-wide strategy to expand meaningful digital connectivity and accelerate economic growth.

The commitment formed part of the 2026 Abuja Declaration on Meaningful Connectivity for Africa, adopted at the close of the 7th Ordinary Session of the African Telecommunications Union Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Abuja on Friday.

The declaration commits member states to improving digital affordability, expanding access to broadband infrastructure, strengthening consumer protection and cybersecurity, and promoting digital literacy, particularly among women, youths, persons with disabilities and underserved communities.

The conference, hosted by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission, also elected Zambia’s Kezias Mwale as the next Secretary-General of the ATU and saw Nigeria assume the chairmanship of the Conference of Plenipotentiaries for the next institutional cycle.

Speaking at the conference, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, said Africa already knew what was required to bridge its digital divide, identifying enabling policies, affordability and digital capacity as the three pillars for achieving universal connectivity.

“While millions have yet to benefit from digital transformation, we know what it takes to close the gap,” she said.

Bogdan-Martin urged governments to adopt technology-neutral policies that allow fibre, mobile, satellite and community networks to complement one another.

“Technology neutrality makes complementarity possible, unlocking healthy market competition that lowers prices and expands coverage,” she said.

She noted that although mobile broadband now covers 86 per cent of Africa’s population, only 36 per cent of Africans are online.

According to her, mobile data still costs about 4.2 per cent of monthly household income in parts of the continent—almost double the Broadband Commission’s affordability target—while fixed broadband costs can exceed 15 per cent.

The ITU chief also expressed concern that at least **$265m** held in Universal Service Funds across 12 African countries remained unused over a 12-month period, saying the resources could help bridge last-mile connectivity gaps.

She added that initiatives such as the GSMA Handset Affordability Coalition would help put more affordable devices, including refurbished and entry-level smartphones, into the hands of Africans, while stressing that digital skills were equally critical to ensuring the continent’s young population benefited from emerging technologies.

“People don’t wake up in the morning asking for artificial intelligence; they want better health care, better education, better jobs and better public services,” she said, adding that connectivity should enable those outcomes.

Also speaking, Senior Director of Public Policy and Communications at GSMA Africa, Caroline Mbugua, described regulatory modernisation as the foundation of Africa’s digital future.

“Regulatory modernisation is not a technical footnote to connectivity policy. It is the enabler on which everything else depends,” she said.

Citing the **ITU’s** Global Connectivity Report 2025, she said countries implementing modern regulatory measures, including technology-neutral licensing, fair spectrum pricing and infrastructure sharing, recorded 5G coverage levels about 40 percentage points higher than countries without such reforms.

Mbugua also referenced the World Bank’s Regional Digital Integration Programme in West Africa, where modernised licensing helped increase broadband penetration from 26 per cent to 36 per cent within three years while reducing the cost of one gigabyte of data from about 10 per cent to around five per cent of monthly income.

She called on African regulators to modernise satellite licensing frameworks and adopt regulatory parity to ensure operators providing similar services faced comparable regulatory obligations.

“When rules diverge, when one class of provider faces a lighter fiscal and licensing burden for delivering the same service, capital notices and flows towards regulatory certainty, not away from it,” she said. “Africa cannot afford a framework that works against its own investment.”

Outgoing ATU Secretary-General John Omo presented the ministerial declaration adopted by member states, saying it covered issues including digital inclusion, infrastructure resilience, broadband expansion, technology neutrality, regulatory harmonisation, digital sovereignty, consumer protection, fiscal policy and capacity building.

According to him, the declaration also invites the African Union Commission, the ITU, regional economic communities, industry players, academia and civil society to work together to deliver meaningful connectivity across Africa and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

He said member states were “calling upon member states to act with urgency” while urging operators and partners, “without distinction of technology,” to encourage investment to close Africa’s digital connectivity gap.

At the closing ceremony, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, called for deeper collaboration among African countries to implement the conference’s resolutions.

“Every discussion, every decision, every compromise has reflected a shared commitment and belief that Africa’s digital future is stronger when we work together,” Tijani said.

He added, “The decisions we have taken over the past two days will only achieve their intended impact if we continue to work together with purpose, mutual trust and a shared commitment to ensuring that every African benefits from the opportunities of the digital economy.”

The minister reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to accelerating digital infrastructure development, strengthening digital skills, promoting responsible innovation and amplifying Africa’s voice in global digital governance.

Following his election after four rounds of voting, Secretary-General-elect Kezias Kazuba Mwale pledged to serve the Union with humility.

“I accept this mandate with a deep sense of responsibility, mindful that leadership is not a privilege to be enjoyed, but a trust to be honoured and carefully guarded,” he said.

Mwale, who currently serves as the Union’s Director of Radiocommunications, will assume office on January 1, 2027, for a four-year term.