From September 8-25, 2024, the first-ever iPRIS training for a French-speaking cohort of seven Francophone Africa national telecom regulators will take place in Luxembourg. The training will cover a
diverse range of topics including legal frameworks, market competition, consumer protection, and spectrum management. Participants will also visit several operators, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and cultural sites like museums and the Betzdorf and Vianden castles.
A key component of the iPRIS project is the planning and implementation of “Change Initiatives”, strategic projects designed to address specific challenges within each regulator's jurisdiction. These initiatives focus on tackling issues such as infrastructure gaps or digital inclusion barriers. Following the Luxembourg training, a regional support team will assist the regulators in implementing their change initiatives. The whole 2024B cohort will reconvene in Dakar, Senegal, in February 2025 to review progress and refine their projects. The effectiveness of the initiatives will be evaluated one year after the project’s commencement in 2025.
2024B will engage the telecom regulators of the Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo Brazzaville, Mauritania, Senegal and Togo. These national telecom regulators, also known as national
regulatory authorities (NRAs), are government-appointed organizations responsible for developing and implementing policies to safeguard consumers, ensure fair competition, and foster innovation within the ICT sector. iPRIS adopts a peer-based learning approach to enhance the capacities of NRAs, aiming to narrow the digital gap.
iPRIS is a joint effort by the Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions (SPIDER), Sweden’s Post and Telecom Authority (PTS), and Luxembourg’s Regulatory Institute (ILR). They collaborate with African
regional telecom regulators to support NRAs in achieving their strategic objectives.
For additional information, interested parties can contact Ms. Edna Soomre, the iPRIS Project Lead, at ipris@spidercenter.org
