WATRA Raises the Alarm over Threat to West Africa’s $150bn Digital Economy

Emma Okonji

The West African Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA), has raised the alarm over threat to West Africa’s digital economy that is contributing between $100 billion and $150 billion in economic activities annually, with strong growth prospects, citing a fragile foundation that is threatening its transformation. 

Executive Secretary of WATRA, Mr. Aliyu Aboki, who raised the alarm during its International Submarine Cable Resilience Summit 2026 in Porto, Portugal, said the region, with a combined GDP of over $800 billion, and estimated to contribute between $100 billion and $150 billion in economic activities annually, is being threatened by weak infrastructure that is negatively affecting its transformation. 

According to him, across the region, digital platforms are helping to overcome long-standing infrastructure constraints, boost productivity, attract investment, and create jobs. He however said the transformation continued to rest on a fragile foundation based on a series of submarine cable disruptions along the West African coast that has exposed a critical vulnerability at the heart of West Africa’s digital economy.

Citing the submarine cable disruptions along the West African coast in 2024, Aboki said what made the West African disruption different was its scale. He said multiple cables serving the region were affected simultaneously, sharply reducing available bandwidth and overwhelming existing redundancy.

At the Porto Summit, Aboki insisted that the discussion was particularly important for West Africa, where the digital economy is emerging as a powerful driver of growth—helping to overcome physical infrastructure gaps while creating new pathways for inclusion and opportunity.

According to him, without resilient connectivity, the momentum cannot be sustained. “Historically, resilience has been treated as a secondary consideration—something addressed after deployment rather than embedded at the point of investment. That approach is no longer tenable. Across global discussions, including those involving the World Bank, there is growing recognition that digital infrastructure must be approached through the lens of long-term risk and sustainability. Resilience shapes risk premiums, insurance costs, and financing decisions. Where it is poorly defined, it is treated as an additional cost. Where it is clearly linked to reduced downtime and operational continuity, it becomes a value proposition—one that can unlock capital. For underserved regions, this distinction is critical,” Aboki said.

He explained that the challenge was not simply to build more cables, but to build systems that are financeable, durable, and regionally coherent.

“The 2024 disruptions exposed a structural mismatch. Submarine cable networks are regional in operation, but governance remains largely national. Permitting processes differ. Emergency response procedures are not harmonised. Cable protection regimes vary in enforcement. This fragmentation introduces risk. When outages occur, delays in customs clearance, port access, and inter-agency coordination can extend repair timelines. For investors, these uncertainties translate directly into higher cost of capital,” Aboki further said.

Proffering solutions to the challenge, Aboki said addressing this would require a shift in perspective, adding that submarine cable resilience must be treated as a regional public good, supported by coordinated policy frameworks.

“In West Africa, this has reinforced the importance of regulatory alignment through WATRA, which brings together telecommunications regulators from 16 member states. The focus is not centralisation, but coordination—ensuring that critical aspects of resilience are addressed consistently across jurisdictions,” Aboki added.

He therefore called for regulatory interventions such as streamlined and predictable landing and permitting processes; stronger cable protection frameworks aligned with international best practice; pre-agreed emergency protocols for repair operations; and improved data sharing on outages and restoration timelines.