Stakeholders and telecoms professionals are discussing the issue of high mobile roaming fees in the Common Market of Southern and East Africa (COMESA).

The three-day validation workshop began on Monday in Kigali, Rwanda, as part of the evaluation of the Draft Policy and Regulatory Frameworks for Roaming and Interconnections.

Bernard Dzawanda, COMESA director of Infrastructure, officially opened the workshop by lamenting the harsh conditions that limit the sector's expansion in the regions.

"Most of us would agree that the high and uncompetitive tariffs for international mobile roaming and a weak regulatory regime for cross-border interconnections are two of the most persisting challenges in the regional ICT market," he said.

Gordon Kalema, director general/digital transformation at the Rwanda Ministry of ICT Innovation, stated that high communication prices have an influence on economies.

"Having affordable communication across the region would have a positive effect on several other areas such as increased cross-border trade, free movements of people, reduced cost of doing business and ultimately enhanced regional integration."

Despite a 2017 pledge by COMESA ministers to eliminate roaming costs, they remain in effect.

However, through the European Union-funded Enhancement of Governance and Enabling Environment in the Information Communication and Technology sector programme, COMESA is looking at policy harmonisation and regulation to facilitate cross-border interconnections, strengthen regional competition, and ensure competitive tariffs.

Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe all declared plans to eliminate roaming costs in 2023.

COMESA, headquartered in Zambia, has 21 member states with a population of more than 600 million.