West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA) has reaffirmed its commitment to advancing a secure, inclusive, and resilient digital ecosystem in West Africa.

This follows the successful conclusion of its 4th Working Groups Meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, yesterday—at a time when the region’s $216 billion digital economy was expanding rapidly and reshaping growth prospects.

The meeting, hosted by the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes du Burkina Faso (ARCEP), brought together regulators, technical experts, and stakeholders from across the region under the theme: “Building a Secure, Inclusive, and Resilient Digital Ecosystem for West Africa.”

In his opening and closing remarks, the Executive Secretary of WATRA, Aliyu Yusuf Aboki, described the meeting as a significant milestone in the organisation’s evolution, marking the transition from dialogue to the delivery of practical regulatory tools.

Aboki leads the organisation’s strategic engagement with regional and global stakeholders, helping to shape coherent regulatory frameworks and strengthen Africa’s voice in global discussions on digital policy and telecommunications development.

“Nearly two years after the establishment of the working groups, we can take pride in the progress achieved. What began as a vision has evolved into a dynamic mechanism for peer learning, coordination, and knowledge exchange,” Aboki said.

Over the course of the meeting, the working groups finalised a set of technical reports covering key areas critical to the region’s digital transformation, including 5G deployment, submarine cable resilience, cybersecurity frameworks, consumer protection, and non-geostationary satellite (NGSO) regulation.

Aboki emphasised that the outputs were intended to serve as practical instruments to guide policy and regulatory action across WATRA’s 16 member states.

The meeting comes at a time when West Africa’s telecommunications sector is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by emerging technologies such as digital financial services, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT).