In a strategic move to bolster regional cooperation, Ghana and Nigeria’s telecom regulators—the National Communications Authority (NCA) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)—have pledged to deepen collaboration on key cross-border issues in the communications sector, reports Digital TimesNG.
This commitment was reaffirmed during a bilateral coordination meeting held on 8th May 2025 at the NCA Tower in Accra, as part of a two-day benchmarking visit by an eight-member Nigerian delegation, led by NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman, Dr. Aminu Maida.
Welcoming the team, Acting Director General of the NCA, Rev. Ing. Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko, underscored the strategic necessity of working closely with Nigeria, citing strong economic and social ties, and highlighted joint priorities such as ECOWAS Roaming, cross-border regulation of telecom operators, and capacity building as vital to achieving regional impact.
“Ghana is committed to setting the pace for regional leadership in telecom regulation, and collaboration with Nigeria is central to that goal,” he said. Ghana already has free roaming arrangements with Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, and Benin, and is testing with The Gambia, making Nigeria a critical partner due to the volume of trade and traffic between the two nations.
Dr. Maida on his part, praised Ghana’s progress in regulatory practices, particularly in managing market dominance and deploying real-time monitoring tools and expressed Nigeria’s eagerness to align efforts on ECOWAS Roaming and to learn from Ghana’s experience in managing influential telecom players.
“We recognise the strong ties between our institutions and countries, and we are here not just because of what we have heard, but because we have seen the impact of the NCA’s work. Nigeria is eager to collaborate on ECOWAS Roaming and learn from Ghana’s experience dealing with significant market players,” he said.
The two regulators also toured NCA’s cutting-edge infrastructure, including its Broadcast Monitoring Centre, Network Monitoring System, and Quality of Service tools.
Dr. Maida further invited Ghana to play a key role in the emerging African chapter of the International Institute of Communications (IIC).
The meeting not only reinforced long-standing institutional ties but also laid the groundwork for more integrated regulatory approaches within the ECOWAS sub-region.