Ghana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe sharpen telecoms competition

Africa’s mobile technology market gained a sharper regulatory edge in Q2 as telecoms authorities and operators advanced reforms around spectrum and next-generation connectivity. Ghana opened its 5G market to competition after ending an exclusive licence model, while Mozambique awarded 5G spectrum to Tmcel, Vodacom Mozambique and Movitel. Nigeria began reviewing its telecoms policy after 26 years, with reform focused on data costs, service quality and modernised oversight. Zambia strengthened the 5G narrative through MTN’s Huawei indoor 5G deployment at Mulungushi International Conference Centre, providing an enterprise connectivity use case, while Zimbabwe reversed its 75% local ownership requirement for telecom operators, easing investor concerns. Regionally, East Africa advanced mobile roaming, and Mauritius launched KaliteNet to monitor internet quality. Together, these developments suggest that mobile growth has increasingly been shaped by spectrum access, ownership rules, and regulatory accountability. For operators, competitive advantage will increasingly depend on spectrum access, regulatory certainty and the ability to execute infrastructure rollouts efficiently.

Data courtesy: Global Data Centres Map, Africa Data Centre Association; 2026