Ghana and Burkina Faso have signed a landmark agreement to eliminate mobile roaming fees between the two West African nations, allowing travelers to communicate at local domestic rates.
Why It Matters
The elimination of prohibitive roaming charges is a crucial step towards deeper digital and economic integration in the region. It immediately lowers communication costs for travelers and traders, facilitating better cross-border cooperation and boosting regional mobility.
The Details
- The Agreement: The National Communications Authority (NCA) of Ghana and the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP) of Burkina Faso signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Free Roaming.
- What Changes: Mobile subscribers traveling across the border will no longer incur additional roaming charges for calls, messages, or data services. They will pay the same local rates as if they were in their home country.
- When: The agreement was officially signed on November 21, 2025, during the 20th edition of the Digital Week event held in Ouagadougou.
- Other Cooperation: In addition to free roaming, the nations signed a bilateral agreement on frequency coordination to better manage telecommunications signals along their shared border and improve network quality.
The Big Picture
This deal solidifies Ghana’s position as a regional leader in connectivity, as the country has now successfully concluded free roaming arrangements with all of its neighboring countries.
The initiative aligns with broader West African efforts, backed by ECOWAS, to create a single, borderless digital market. Burkina Faso’s Minister of Digital Transition, Posts and Electronic Communications has already announced plans to extend similar free roaming agreements to Mali and Niger next.
