Under the auspices of the West African Telecoms Regulators Assembly (WATRA), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and other telecoms regulators will develop technical and regulatory modalities aimed at combating the rising wave of electronic frauds and standardizing regional roaming tariffs in the sub-region.
This was the highpoint of a two-day meeting organized by WATRA in partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, according to Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, Director Public Affairs of the NCC.
Representatives from telecoms regulators from across West Africa attended the meeting, which provided a forum for key participants and stakeholders to discuss how to create a unified market for telecommunications services in West Africa, combat roaming and cyber-related fraud, and achieve roaming tariff standardization among ECOWAS member-states.
Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC and Chairman of WATRA, addressed stakeholders at the meeting, emphasizing the relevance of the meeting by stating that as businesses go online, fraudsters are following suit.
Danbatta, who was represented by Bako Wakil, NCC’s Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity, said that regulators must tame and outpace fraudsters in order to give West African citizens and businesses the confidence to fully benefit from the enormous benefits of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
He said, “About 75 per cent of trade within ECOWAS is informal, and thus poorly recorded. Therefore, digitising this trade through employing many forms of electronic payments is a significant step towards formalising, governing and boosting intra-ECOWAS trade activities.
“Our ambitions are to formalise informal trade, including agricultural commodities as well as boosting intra-regional trade and this requires us to improve collaboration on combating electronic fraud.”
Danbatta informed the delegates that electronic fraud is not just an African or a West African issue but a global phenomenon.
Danbatta told the delegates that electronic fraud is a global phenomena, not just an African or West African problem.
According to research, 54% of European Union customers believe they are more likely to come across misleading/deceptive or fraudulent adverts or offers over the Internet.
On the regional roaming service, the WATRA Chairman stated that the Assembly envisions a “Digital ECOWAS,” in which improved sub-regional roaming regulation can aid in regional economic integration.
“Our citizens, traders and companies will trade better when they can use their telephones to call contacts in other ECOWAS countries and when they can use their data subscriptions at no extra cost while travelling or doing business within the region.
“So, reducing and eventually eliminating the cost of roaming will also be a very significant contribution towards boosting trade within the region,” Danbatta said.
On the one hand, the EVC expressed pleasure with the level of collaboration among national regulatory authorities in the sub-region; on the other hand, the EVC expressed satisfaction with the level of collaboration between WATRA and ECOWAS.
Such synergy, he said, is a good sign of growth and internalization of best global practices.
“I am very pleased to see the excellent collaboration and the sharing of workload between the telecommunications body and personnel within ECOWAS and WATRA.
“Their roles have become complementary and mutually reinforcing-policies legislative frameworks that have been designed at the ECOWAS level, while WATRA does the follow-up work of information-sharing, dialogue and learning dispersal amongst regulatory authorities. It is indeed becoming a well-articulated symphony,” he added.
Aliyu Aboki, the Executive Secretary of WATRA, had earlier in his welcome address emphasized the need of a trusted digital economy to any nation.
He reiterated that WATRA, as a platform for regional regulatory collaboration, will work together to see that its vision is realized as quickly as possible.
While e-fraud in the provision of communication services has always been a collective issue, Dr. Raphael Koffi, the Acting Director, Digital Economy and Post, ECOWAS, noted that variance in termination rates agreed in commercial roaming agreements has also posed an obstacle to harmonization of roaming tariffs.
He claims that WATRA and ECOWAS will work together to address this disparity.
The status of the Removal of Surcharges on International Traffic (SIIT) on ECOWAS countries, as well as the introduction of a consistent rate cap for roaming call termination throughout the ECOWAS region, were among the topics discussed during the event.
