African governments have committed to creating a single digital market aimed at harmonising legislation, boosting cross-border digital services, and accelerating the growth of regional digital economies. The commitment was made during the 14th Connected Africa Summit (CAS) held in Kenya.
The initiative builds on the African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy (2020–2030) and was formalised through the signing of the declaration “Africa’s Digital Future: From Vision to Action”. The declaration was adopted by ministers, heads of delegations, AU member state representatives, and industry leaders.
The agreement includes plans to promote local production of smart devices, semiconductors, and green electronics. It also hits on the development of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, along with data and cloud sovereignty.
In terms of infrastructure, the declaration prioritises the acceleration of 5G deployment, cross-border fibre highways, and the use of universal service funds to support last-mile connectivity.
Participants also pledged to align national laws on cyber security, telecom tariffs, data governance, and digital trade to support the digital integration agenda.
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“CAS 2025 gave us a chance to reflect on the challenges blocking Africa’s journey to digital transformation and realize immense opportunities to harness. We have made a renewed commitment to forge more partnerships and enhance cross-border data transfers amongst other areas of collaboration,” said William Kabogo Gitau, Kenya’s cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Information, Communications, and Digital Economy, who presided over the summit.
