MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita urged governments across Africa to consider harmonising regulations, particularly in the tech sector, to support the increased capital investment in digital infrastructure required to accelerate economic development.

He was speaking at the opening of the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, where the theme of the gathering of some 2 000 business leaders, CEOs, investors, heads of state and ministers was ‘At the table or on the menu? A critical moment to shape a new future for Africa’.

“I would argue that the thing we do need to think about is harmonising regulatory developments, particularly in the technology space,” said Mupita, referencing the numerous different regulations that apply across Africa, where the population is of a similar size to that of India – a single country where only one set of regulations apply.

“How do we create regulatory systems that are common across Africa?” he asked delegates to the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, adding that harmonisation would help investors better anticipate their own returns and in turn encourage investment.

MTN Group has mobile operations in 17 countries in Africa and is working to extend digital inclusion in line with UN goals for universal broadband access.

Only around 500 million of the 1.2 billion people in Africa subscribe to mobile services. Just over half (57%) use 2G. This means only a quarter of Africans have access to the Internet. Most do not have smartphones, cannot afford them, and are digitally excluded.