Vodacom Tanzania and open-access fibre provider Fast Fibre are calling for closer regional coordination on regulation, tax and infrastructure investment to accelerate East Africa’s digital transformation.
The companies outlined their priorities at ITW Africa and Datacloud Africa 2026, which concluded in Nairobi on 10 September.
In an interview with ITWeb Africa’s Nixon Kanali, Aashiq Shariff, managing director at Fast Fibre, said Africa’s digital economy is expanding beyond its traditional commercial hubs.
With Tanzania’s National ICT Broadband Backbone extending more than 25,000km, Shariff said there is scope for the government to democratise national long-distance fibre and extend fixed connections to peri-urban and rural areas.
“Investment flows where there are returns. In a global economy that is increasingly shying away from multilateralism, regulators need to create environments that can attract and sustain investment,” Shariff said.
He said bringing infrastructure closer to users reduces the distance data has to travel and improves service performance, which he said matters more as cloud services, data-intensive applications and 5G expand into more markets.
On investment conditions, Shariff said greater regulatory harmonisation and better alignment of tax regimes would help reduce barriers to investment, allowing projects to move faster and businesses to gain access to digital services sooner.
He said East Africa should increasingly be viewed as one interconnected digital market rather than a collection of separate markets, with infrastructure and regulatory frameworks reflecting the reality that data and business now move across borders.
“The opportunity before East Africa is not simply to build more infrastructure. It is to build the right infrastructure, in the right places, supported by the right investment environment,” Shariff said.
Andrew Lupembe, network director at Vodacom Tanzania, said connectivity cannot simply be available; it must also be reliable, resilient and capable of withstanding disruption.
He said Vodacom Tanzania is entering the second phase of its network revitalisation programme, aimed at ensuring its base stations carry the latest technology and deliver best-in-class quality of service.
Lupembe said broadband coverage in Tanzania stands at 94%, while smartphone penetration is 44.7%, meaning the priority now is driving smartphone adoption to fully exploit infrastructure already deployed.
On data centres, he said building capacity across the continent is critically dependent on reliable and, specifically, green energy to reduce the sector’s carbon footprint.
“Energy, fibre, mobile networks, data centres, subsea cables and cloud infrastructure must work together to deliver the reliability that modern businesses and societies require,” Lupembe said.
He added that governments have a role in creating a regulatory environment that can attract and sustain the global investment needed to match projected demand.
Nguvu Kamando, director at Vodacom Tanzania, said the conference arrived at an important moment for the continent, with Africa’s digital growth creating new opportunities for businesses, governments and communities.
“Connectivity is everything. It is the foundation of the digital transformation we are looking for across Africa,” Kamando said.
He said connectivity alone is no longer the end goal, with cloud services, digital platforms, data-driven decision-making and AI-powered systems now a necessity rather than a luxury for enterprises competing domestically, regionally and globally.
“Our role is beyond connectivity, beyond infrastructure, and as we at Vodacom say, ‘More than a Network,’ driving development and enabling the digital economy,” Kamando said.
On artificial intelligence, Kamando said it has already brought efficiencies to enterprise operations, improving fault detection and resolution, complementing cybersecurity, optimising network performance and supporting faster, better-informed decisions.
He said Vodacom Business is committed to promoting AI that is responsible, transparent, secure and inclusive, while protecting customer data.
Kamando said Tanzania’s Dira 2050 vision will be carried by the digital ecosystem, with health, agriculture, mining and education among the sectors where technology can meaningfully improve productivity, access to services and decision-making.
On regional integration, he pointed to Vodacom’s relationships with sister companies, including Safaricom in Kenya and Vodacom in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique, as proof of what is possible when regional networks and capabilities are connected.
He called on governments and industry to keep working together to make cross-border connectivity more seamless and simple.
“Africa has the population, the ambition and the demand for digital services. Our collective responsibility is to build the infrastructure and solutions that can turn that demand into sustainable economic growth,” Kamando said.
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