The Smart Africa Alliance (SAA) and Global Voice Group (GVG) have agreed to build an African Regional Traffic Exchange and Financial Settlement (ARTEF) Platform as part of the One Africa Network (OAN) initiative.
The idea is to establish a harmonized African telecommunications framework that would give African countries the potential to make significant leaps in development through lower intra-region communication costs. For consumers, the goal would be to lower the costs of communications by eliminating roaming charges. This would boost intra-African traffic, leading to more trade and economic growth. Calls from one OAN country to another would not have to leave the OAN zone to incur international changes.
As Patrice Baker, CEO of GVG, pointed out: “The OAN is a major initiative for the socio-economic development of Africa. The idea of a free roaming zone and the necessity of establishing a harmonized African telecommunications framework has been discussed for many years across the continent. It is time now for action. As a technical partner and provider of the traffic exchange platform, GVG is strongly committed to assist SAA members in the successful implementation of the OAN.”
