Luxembourg recently served as a crossroads for digital cooperation as telecom regulators from Africa and Europe convened for three weeks of intense peer-to-peer learning within the iPRIS Project. Participants included the National Telecom Authorities (NRAs) of Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Cameroon, Gabon, Guinea, and Equatorial Guinea, as well as the Regional Regulatory Organisations (RROs) - ARTAO, EACO, ARTAC, and CRASA, and European partners (ARCEP France, BNetzA Germany, IBPT Belgium, and Deloitte). Against a backdrop of rapid digital growth, where affordability, inclusion, and security are pressing, this three-week programme was designed to foster cross-border cooperation and institutional capacity-building, alongside national Change Initiatives. 

Despite Africa's digital boom, the latest ITU 2024 figures reveal a significant disparity between the continent and global averages, with 38% of the population online compared to 68% worldwide. While 85% of its population enjoys 3G coverage, the percentage falls to 60% for 4G and a mere 11% for 5G, indicating that infrastructure gaps have been present all along. It's more severe in rural areas, where one in four people are unable to connect to the Internet, and Internet penetration stands at 23% compared to 57% in urban areas. Another divide comes with gender disparities: while 43% of men are online, only 31% of women are, leaving millions of others, especially young girls, at risk of exclusion from the opportunities provided by the digital economy.

This is the sixth iPRIS cohort (2025C) organised by SPIDER, in collaboration with the Institut luxembourgeois de régulation (Luxembourg Regulatory Institute [ILR]). The sessions covered a wide range of themes, including institutional and legal frameworks, competition in a dynamic market, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), end-user protection, spectrum management, and cybersecurity.

Technical foundations and spectrum strategy

The inaugural day set the tone for three weeks of joint work, grounding the participants in the principles of relevance, inclusivity, and sustainability of the iPRIS approach.

Welcoming the cohort, Luc Tapella, ILR Director, stressed, "initiatives for change must be relevant, inclusive and sustainable," and encouraged regulators to "embrace collaboration, peer-to-peer learning and openness as factors of lasting impacts." Jeanne Pietschmann, from the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs, welcomed the participants and emphasised the strong cooperation between Luxembourg institutions and their African partners. 

Caroline Wamala Larsson, SPIDER director, pointed out that "digitalisation is a global necessity, not only technically, but also socially and economically," thus framing connectivity as a development driver in all sectors. The afternoon's conclusion featured brief presentations of the Change Initiatives (CIs) being developed by each NRA. CIs are the cornerstone of iPRIS and are strategic projects undertaken to bridge the digital divide by addressing challenges and seizing opportunities in the ICT sector.

Another session during week 1 featured project management presented by Malena Liedholm-Ndounou, SPIDER expert. Project management is a key capacity that iPRIS is strengthening among NRAs to optimise their CIs. The session highlighted the effectiveness of SMART objectives in project management within the context of change initiatives: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Moreover, a discussion on spectrum management was led by Guy Mahowald, Head of the Frequency Department at ILR. For this session, ARCEP Benin's testimony on the subject of the various national regulations served as a relevant example.  Faced with one of the major satellite service providers with a strong presence in sub-Saharan Africa, this Beninese regulator, a central player in the legal and technical reform of the ICT sector, has actively worked to build a sustainable and inclusive digital ecosystem, in particular by drawing inspiration from Nigeria's legislation, and has thus succeeded in supervising new providers in its market through regulation. This relevant testimony from Benin on the subject of regulation testifies to one of the pillars of the Joint European Offer. 

The ICT experts also discussed Luxembourg's regulatory landscape, and ILR was described as a multisector autonomous regulator. Antoine Samba (ARCEP France) and Luc Birgen (ILR) brought perspectives on institutional and regulatory frameworks. Meanwhile, Julien Gilson (ARCEP France) and Annegret Groebel (BNetzA) detailed regulatory and competition models across Europe, examining independence through the clarity of mandates, transparency of procedures, and robustness of governance. Anael Bourrous (Deloitte) introduced the emerging regulatory challenges and the shifting balance of power among global platforms. In contrast, Chaïmae Baghdadi (ARCEP France) discussed the deployment of high-speed networks and the urgent matter of adapting certain provisions of the EU Digital Markets Act to African realities. These interactions highlighted the need to strike a proper balance between market oversight and operational autonomy, while reinforcing national capacities and ensuring that technology serves the interests of all, particularly in terms of gender equity, income-related access, and geographical distribution, thereby keeping technology in the hands of the people.

Inclusion, accountability, and the architecture of digital trust

The second week involved more than just technical architectures; it also explored the societal and political underpinnings of digital regulations. Two themes were prominent on Monday morning in sessions led by experts from the SPIDER: Beyond Universal Access in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) with Mr Cheikh Sadibou Sakho and Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) with Ms Katja Sarajeva.

Cheikh Sadibou Sakho highlighted the social dimensions of the digital divide, recalling that inclusion is not limited to infrastructure but also depends on social roles and gender. He highlighted the importance of embedding diversity, equity and inclusion, and introduced the notion of social construction of differences to guide regulators in developing their change initiatives (CIs). Katja Sarajeva, within the framework of MEAL, demonstrated how to place sustainable impact at the centre of actions through accountability, learning loops, and the use of disaggregated data, ensuring real and sustainable change.

On Tuesday morning, the focus was on a very interactive intervention on cybersecurity and regulation by Ms Asmaa Ouraini from the ILR. Later in the week, the sessions shifted to the strategic management of numbering and addressing, which were conducted by Tom Meyers (ILR) and Richard Klein (IBPT). They emphasised the need for long-term planning and coordination at a global level. With Sophie Steichen and Stefania Salvati (ILR), consumer protection sessions emphasised the importance of transparent contracts with clear indicators, as well as empowering users to utilise practical tools such as service comparers and quality monitors.

Representatives of four Regional Regulatory Organisations, who had been following the sessions via video conference, joined the delegates in person this week. They included Ms Bernice Edande (ARTAC), Mr Ruffus Samuel (ARTAO), Mr Alexis Sinarinzi (EACO) and Mr Trilok Dabeesing (ICTA/CRASA). Their simultaneous participation, a first, was a major step towards enhanced cooperation on a continental scale.

Alongside these discussions, site visits to SES and Luxembourg’s National Museum of Archaeology, History and Art highlighted the broader context of digital transformation, blending technical learning with cultural exchange and strengthening peer networks across Africa and Europe. 

From planning to action: Refining change initiatives

In the last week, everything from the 3-week course came full circle as participants aimed to flesh out the CIs that will present their plans to the NRA for the next year. The early sessions focused on addressing and numbering challenges in underserved rural areas, while also considering the broader issues of equity and resource allocation. The discussion on inclusive data and representation, led by Sadibou Sakho (SPIDER), underscored that analysis must be gender-disaggregated because dominant voices tend to mask the needs of women and other marginalised groups.

Working groups, in turn, applied these lessons to the CIs by strengthening governance structures, clarifying benchmarks, and adjusting international models to fit national realities. Expert feedback from SPIDER, ILR, and RROs further strengthened the teams' capacity-building proposals by identifying potential actors who could implement activities and proposing a timeline within which these activities logically fit.

The final moment of the round took place during the "Way Forward" sessions, during which the NRAs presented their project plans. The presentations demonstrated how each Change Initiative evolves from peer exchange, project management workshops, and diversity and inclusion sessions to deliver real regulatory change within the upcoming year.

Former iPRIS cohorts and ITP alumni joined this session remotely to provide comments and suggestions and to connect these new projects to ongoing reforms throughout Africa, further reinforcing iPRIS as a living collaboration network. The extremely rigorous feedback emphasised the importance of proper governance, communication, and adaptation to context, while also praising the cohort's ability to turn complex bottlenecks into concrete strategies.

A shared commitment to inclusive digital futures

The 2025C round ended with a sobering reminder that any regulation is both technical and socio-political. In a span of three weeks, the African and European telecom experts marched from the essentials of spectrum strategies into greater details on social imperatives of equity, accountability, and user protection, ultimately airing Change Initiatives that will firm up the reforms long after the peer exchanges.

The journey demonstrated that cross-continental collaboration is effective: European models provided benchmarks, while African realities introduced new perspectives on affordability, gender gaps, and rural connectivity. The peer learning process, significant feedback, and cultural exchange activities (field visits and informal discussions) helped forge the kind of trust necessary to take these ideas forward to action.

Watch highlights from this cohort's time in Luxembourg below

iPRIS is coordinated and implemented by SPIDER in strategic and technical partnership with the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) and Institut luxembourgeois de régulation (ILR), as well as ARTAC, CRASA, EACO, and WATRA.

iPRIS is funded by the European Union, Sweden, and Luxembourg as part of the Team Europe Initiative “D4D for Digital Economy and Society in Sub-Saharan Africa” (Code: 001).

Luxembourg — 22nd September

As the iPRIS peer-to-peer training advances in Luxembourg, Week 2 focus shifted to the social, institutional, and protective aspects of digital regulation. Inclusion, accountability, cybersecurity, and consumer rights are explored during these sessions as founding principles of trustworthy digital ecosystems. The second Francophone cohort to participate in the iPRIS delved into these topics and more.

Read Week 1 highlights here

According to the GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report 2025, in 2024, Sub-Saharan Africa was the only region to make headway in narrowing the mobile internet gender gap. The divide fell from 36% in 2022 to 32% in 2023, and further to 29% in 2024. 

Yet, the challenge remains immense: about 205 million women in the region are still offline, representing 61% of the adult female population. These figures show a step in the right direction, but also highlight the need for appropriate regulation to bridge the digital divide, especially for women in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Tackling core challenges of trustworthy regulation

Various issues came up during the knowledge-exchange sessions in Luxembourg, currently shaping how regulators can foster trust and accountability in an ever-evolving digital environment:

1. Inclusion has to go beyond access

Connectivity on its own does not guarantee equity. Unless purposely managed by regulators from a digital rights angle, such technologies reproduce gender, rural, and affordability barriers.

2. Accountability Builds Trust

Monitoring and evaluation are not just about reports and checklists, but rather about ensuring that Change Initiatives trigger real-life change. When regulators monitor, adapt, and share lessons learned from them in the open, trust is created.

3. Cybersecurity as a Public Good

In an era marked by extreme digital connectivity, cybersecurity has become of utmost importance. According to UNDP, the second quarter of 2023 in Africa had the highest average weekly cyberattacks against any one organisation, approximating 2164 attacks. All individuals, including small businesses and large enterprises, are vulnerable to cyberattacks. Therefore, with ransomware, phishing, and fraud crossing borders, networks must be guarded to shield economies and societies.

4. Scarce resources must be safeguarded

Numbering and addressing are the invisible framework of communications, and consumer protection builds trust for digital services. Regulators must act with transparency, vigilance, and fairness in their dealings with these matters.

5. Change Initiatives: From vision into action

Institutional leadership and structured project management are key to transforming insights into lasting reforms. Success lies in moving from strategy to implementation.

Reflections from the telecom experts during week 2

Embedding inclusion in regulation

Opening the week, Sadibou Sakho from SPIDER conducted a session on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Connectivity, he reminded the participants, does not guarantee equity. Hence, he insisted that meaningful connectivity might become an empty phrase by emphasising that it needs to be reliable, affordable, and relevant. 

The country reflections demonstrated the need to tackle affordability, urban planning, and gender disparities so that digital transformation can serve all citizens.

Measuring impact

Katja Sarajeva from SPIDER walked participants through monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL), asserting that regulation is deemed successful only if its impact outweighs the mere existence of documents.

She put equal importance on practical tools, stakeholder profiling, and continuous evolution in capturing lessons taught. She added that even small but practical outputs can contribute immensely to transformative long-term changes if aligned with an institution's priorities.

Cybersecurity and resilience

Asmaa Ouraini from  Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation (ILR) facilitated an extensive discussion on cybersecurity and network resilience, delving into how tiny cracks over time can turn into a roaring national crisis.

She stressed that the prime liability is often human error, hence awareness and digital hygiene should be positioned on par with technical defences. Pulling on the European NIS2 directive, Asmaa showed the merits of resilience through risk-based approaches and provided some examples as to how African regulators may tailor such frameworks within their own contexts.

Numbering, addressing and consumer protection

Numbering and addressing sessions were steered by ILR's Tom Meyers and the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (IBPT)'s Richard Klein. 

They discussed how the allocation and portability of numbers affect interoperability and user choice and cited Belgium's blocking of fraudulent SMS messages as an example of consumer protection in practice.

Later in the week, Sophie Steichen and Stefania Salvati of ILR presented approaches to consumer protection, emphasising that trust in digital services depends on strong safeguards, from transparent operator obligations to active measures against fraud. 

Project management and change initiatives

Malena Liedholm Ndounou of SPIDER returned to take the participants through the chapter on project management while reinforcing the idea of how SMART objectives and indicators are the two sides which turn the Change Initiative into concrete reform. The week closed with participant and ILR expert exchanges where national priorities were balanced against international best practices to ensure that each Change Initiative is context- and action-specific.

Learning Beyond the Classroom

That week also extended itself beyond the freshly set training room. At SES, one of the world's leading satellite operators, the whole delegation received explanations on space-based connectivity for resilience and how it can be extended to underserved areas.

Cultural visits, including ones to museums and heritage sites, provided possibilities for exchange and reflection. These experiences made it clear that peer-to-peer learning is not just technical but also relational and cultural, thereby bridging the Atlantic between African and European regulators, beyond the formal bounds of this program.

More reflections from the week

Watch the highlights from Week 2 below and stay tuned for more updates on the remaining week of the peer-to-peer training sessions.

iPRIS is coordinated and implemented by SPIDER in strategic and technical partnership with the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) and Institut luxembourgeois de régulation (ILR), as well as ARTAC, CRASA, EACO, and WATRA.

iPRIS is funded by the European Union, Sweden, and Luxembourg as part of the Team Europe Initiative “D4D for Digital Economy and Society in Sub-Saharan Africa” (Code: 001).

Luxembourg — 14th September

This September, Luxembourg stands at the center of digital cooperation, bringing together Francophone African and European telecom regulators for two and a half weeks of shared learning, strategic dialogue, and practical solutions to today’s connectivity challenges.

In an age where digital connectivity is the backbone of economic growth and social inclusion, bridging digital divides has never been more urgent.  ITU estimates that approximately 5.5 billion people – or 68 per cent of the world’s population – are using the Internet in 2024. This represents an increase from only 53 per cent in 2019, with 1.3 billion people estimated to have come online during that period. However, this leaves 2.6 billion people still offline.​​

About iPRIS 

iPRIS is coordinated and implemented by SPIDER, in strategic and technical partnership with the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) and Institut luxembourgeois de régulation (Luxembourg Regulatory Institute [ILR]), as well as ARTAC, CRASA, EACO, and WATRA. It builds on the success of a similar programme implemented by SPIDER and PTS, which engaged 27 English-speaking African regulators between 2016 and 2022.

iPRIS is funded by the European Union, Sweden, and Luxembourg as part of the Team Europe Initiative “D4D for Digital Economy and Society in Sub-Saharan Africa” (Code: 001).

Peer to peer learning 

This year’s Francophone cohort reflects the breadth and depth of regulatory experience across both continents. African National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) participating include ARCEP Benin, ARCT Burundi, ART Cameroon, ARPTC Congo Kinshasa, ORTEL Equatorial Guinea, ARCEP Gabon, and ARPT Guinea. They are joined by Regional Regulatory Organisations (RROs) such as CRASA,  WATRA, EACO, and ARTAC, alongside European peers including ARCEP France, BNetzA (Germany), IBPT (Belgium), and private-sector partner Deloitte.

The mix balances local realities with global perspectives, ensuring African regulators lead discussions while drawing on international expertise. Together, participants are charting a shared path towards stronger ICT regulation, fairer access, and a more connected future.

The  2025 peer to peer  training round builds on the success of the 2024B Francophone cohort, which was the first French cohort from Sub-Saharan Africa  (SSA) to participate in iPRIS. This new cohort will continue iPRIS’s commitment to strengthening institutional leadership in ICT regulation and advancing affordable, inclusive, and sustainable digital transformation across Africa.

Tackling the core challenges  to unlock the global digital divide

The iPRIS programme zeroes in on urgent priorities that define digital inclusion in Africa today:

• Affordability: In 2024, the median price of an entry-level mobile broadband plan in Sub-Saharan Africa was the highest globally, well above the UN Broadband Commission’s affordability target of 2 per cent of income. Fixed broadband remains even less affordable (ITU, 2025).
  
• Gender gaps: Digital access still reflects stark inequalities. In 2024, 43 per cent of men in Africa were online compared to just 31 per cent of women (ITU, 2025).
  
• Emerging regulatory frontiers: From 5G rollout and satellite-to-device services to cross-border spectrum coordination, regulators must stay ahead of new technologies.
  
• Interoperability: Cross-border telecom operations depend on seamless connectivity between networks and devices, a critical enabler of regional integration.
  
• Data security: Safeguarding the flow of data across borders is key to building trust, protecting consumers, and strengthening digital ecosystems.
  

Reflections from the telecom experts during week 1

These reflections underline the programme’s dual role: technical deep dive and cultural bridge-building.

Local realities, shared solutions

Week 1 discussions were rooted in concrete national contexts. For example, in Equatorial Guinea, rural areas often rely on networks from neighbouring countries, with cross-border interference disrupting service quality. In Gabon, 90 per cent of the fibre market is controlled by a single operator, limiting competition and infrastructure sharing. Even when competition expands—as with the arrival of a third mobile operator in 2022—the market grew only 4 per cent, highlighting pressure on margins and the need for smarter regulation.

These examples illustrate why Change Initiatives (CIs) are central to iPRIS. Each telecom regulator during the 12-month training programme designs a CI aligned with their institutional priorities—whether infrastructure gaps, affordability barriers, or regulatory inefficiencies. Over the course of the 12-month session, CIs evolve from ideas into actionable project plans through two tracks: expert-led technical work (coordinated by ILR) and SPIDER-led coaching on project management.

Spectrum: the invisible backbone

One highlight of the week was a deep dive into spectrum management, facilitated by Guy Mahowald, the invisible yet indispensable resource that powers everyday life. This conversation addressed several spectrum topics across the session. One highlight was discussions around the challenges of balancing global standards with local realities, including the difficulties African regulators face with imported equipment, the publication of approved equipment lists, and the broader context of differing regulatory approaches between Africa and Europe.

Spectrum enables everything from mobile calls, texts, and internet access to Wi-Fi, GPS, satellite internet, Bluetooth devices, and even wireless microphones. Globally, spectrum governance is coordinated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) through its World Radiocommunication Conference. Regional bodies such as CEPT (Europe) and ATU (Africa) help align strategies, while national regulators like Luxembourg’s ILR develop detailed frequency plans and negotiate cross-border agreements.

Building for impact

The iPRIS peer-to-peer learning journey is designed to be both practical and transformative. 

Facilitating the project management session, Ms. Malena Liedholm Ndounou of SPIDER emphasised that the real value lies in integrating those planning tools into actual outputs.

"Clear objectives and the right indicators help regulators see what's working and what's not. That's how Change Initiatives can drive down costs, close gender gaps, improve user experience, and build a more inclusive digital ecosystem," she stated.

Click the video below to view some moments from the first week

Roadmap to 2030

Since inception, iPRIS has engaged 31 national telecom regulators in Sub-Saharan countries, including Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Eswatini, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo-Brazaville, Mauritania, Senegal, Togo, Lesotho, Mauritius, Rwanda, The Gambia, South Sudan, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo-Kinshasa, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Guinea-Conakry. Regional Regulatory Organisations (RROs)—CRASA, WATRA|ARTAO, EACO, ARTAC—play a central role in shaping the digital ecosystem.

Between 2023 and 2028, iPRIS will engage national and regional telecom regulators in 43 countries across sub-Saharan Africa to drive social and economic prosperity using ICT. Telecom regulators are key to ensuring ICT access, competition, consumer protection, and innovation to unlock development potential.

Stay tuned for more updates on the remaining weeks of the peer-to-peer training sessions.

iPRIS is coordinated and implemented by SPIDER in strategic and technical partnership with the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) and Institut luxembourgeois de régulation (ILR), as well as ARTAC, CRASA, EACO, and WATRA.

iPRIS is funded by the European Union, Sweden, and Luxembourg as part of the Team Europe Initiative “D4D for Digital Economy and Society in Sub-Saharan Africa” (Code: 001).