A New Dawn for Digital Connectivity

In a significant step towards creating a seamless digital landscape, Kenya and eight other Eastern African nations have committed to developing a unified strategy for managing radio frequency spectrum. This ambitious plan, spearheaded by the East African Community (EAC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), aims to dismantle regulatory fragmentation that has long hindered the expansion of affordable, high-quality broadband across the region. The decision was solidified during a Joint Spectrum Management and Knowledge Exchange Workshop in Kigali, Rwanda, on Friday, October 20, 2025 (EAT).

The core issue is that spectrum—the invisible radio waves that power mobile networks, Wi-Fi, and broadcasting—is underutilised and managed under disparate national policies. This fragmentation creates significant challenges for telecommunications companies operating across borders, complicates mobile roaming for citizens, and ultimately inflates the cost of internet services. According to the international mobile operators' association GSMA, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have, on average, assigned only 387 MHz of spectrum for mobile services, lagging significantly behind the global average of 574 MHz. This gap directly impacts the ability of network operators to expand 4G and 5G services, particularly in rural and underserved areas.

The Kenyan Context: Opportunity and Urgency

For Kenya, a regional leader in digital innovation and mobile money, the stakes are particularly high. While the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has made progress in allocating frequencies for 4G and 5G, vast portions of this valuable resource remain idle, especially in rural counties, due to high network deployment costs and insufficient investment incentives. Aligning Kenya's spectrum policies with its neighbours is expected to create economies of scale, reduce operational costs for telcos, and enhance the user experience for Kenyans who frequently travel and conduct business within the EAC. This is especially critical for the burgeoning cross-border mobile money ecosystem.

The harmonisation effort is a central component of the World Bank-funded Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project (EARDIP), which seeks to establish a Single Digital Market in the region. Eng. Daniel Murenzi, the EARDIP Project Coordinator for the EAC, described the initiative as a “pivotal moment,” stating on October 20, 2025, that “Spectrum harmonisation is the backbone of a connected, competitive and inclusive Eastern Africa.” Similarly, Didier Nkurikiyimfura of the Smart Africa Secretariat emphasised the resource's importance, calling spectrum “the oxygen of digital transformation.”

The Roadmap to a Unified Framework

The Kigali workshop brought together high-level officials and technical experts from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. They reached a consensus on several strategic actions to be championed by the EAC and IGAD. These include developing evidence-based regional guidelines for the duration and renewal of spectrum licenses, establishing a unified framework for spectrum valuation to ensure transparent and consistent pricing, and adopting hybrid models for assigning spectrum that balance government revenue generation with universal service goals.

Furthermore, the delegates agreed to accelerate the adoption of the Harmonised Calculation Method for Africa (HCM4A) to manage cross-border signal interference—a persistent technical challenge. The plan also involves preparing coordinated regional positions on emerging technologies like 6G and integrating “green spectrum” practices to reduce the energy footprint of 5G networks through infrastructure sharing. The outcomes from this workshop are set to inform broader continental discussions at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) Africa 2025.

Global Precedent and Future Outlook

This regional push aligns with global trends and decisions made at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23), which identified new spectrum bands for mobile communications, including the 3.5 GHz and 6 GHz ranges, to support the growth of 5G and future technologies. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN agency, has consistently advocated for harmonisation to bridge the digital divide, noting that only about 37% of Africans had internet access in 2023, compared to a global average of 67%. Dr. Emmanuel Manasseh, the ITU's Regional Director for Africa, stressed during the Kigali meeting that “Effective spectrum governance is not a luxury; it is a structural enabler of Africa’s digital transformation.”

By moving towards a unified approach, Eastern Africa aims to create a more predictable investment environment, attract private sector capital, and ultimately provide affordable and reliable connectivity to the nearly 400 million people in the region who remain unconnected. The joint EAC-IGAD roadmap, once developed, will provide the concrete policy, regulatory, and institutional actions needed to turn this vision into a reality, powering the region's digital economy for years to come.