Ouagadougou:The authorities responsible for regulating electronic communications and postal services in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali have signed a cooperation protocol aimed at enhancing their collaborative efforts within the confederal space of the AES.

According to Burkina Information Agency, the agreement, signed on Friday, establishes the Sahel Regulators Council (CRS), a permanent consultation forum with an annually rotating chairmanship. The chairmanship will be held by the regulatory authority of the country leading the ESA Confederation.

Pasteur Poda, Chairman of the ARCEP Burkina Regulatory Council, stated that the CRS will facilitate expert exchanges, information sharing, and joint actions. He emphasized the importance of sharing methods, data, and tools for monitoring spectrum and quality of service and highlighted the focus on improving user information and tariff transparency, with consumer protection as a guiding principle.

Initial projects under this agreement will address community roaming, frequency coordination at borders, quality of service control tools, equipment approval, and postal cooperation, prioritizing free roaming to enhance communications within the AES region.

Moussa Zeinabou Seyni, president of ARCEP Niger, noted that this joint market would reduce distances, facilitate exchanges, bolster economic activity, and bring administrations closer to citizens.

Sadou Pona Sankar©, president of the Telecommunications, Information and Communication Technologies and Postal Regulatory Authority of Mali, expressed that this collaboration will enable regulators to better support technological advancements, ensuring that such developments benefit the populations effectively.

Dr. Aminata Zerbo Sabane, Minister of Digital Transition, Posts and Electronic Communications, urged the regulatory authorities to sustain the cooperation framework and ensure that the commitments lead to tangible actions.