Chad Hosts Regional Workshop on Fibre Infrastructure and Digital Finance
ARTAC Executive Chairman, Christian Katende Mukinay, reaffirmed ARTAC’s role as a key platform for coordination among Central African regulators since its establishment in 2004.
Chad is strengthening its role in regional digital cooperation as N’Djamena hosts a subregional strategic workshop focused on fiber-optic infrastructure mapping and the development of digital financial services. The workshop, taking place from 15 to 18 December 2025, is hosted by the Authority for the Regulation of Electronic Communications and Posts (ARCEP Chad) and jointly organised with the Authority of Telecommunications Regulators of Central Africa (ARTAC) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The event was officially opened on Tuesday, December 16, by the Minister of Telecommunications, Digital Economy and Digitalisation of the Administration, Dr. Boukar Michel, in the presence of regulatory authorities, public decision-makers, technical partners, and telecommunications operators from Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Chad. In his address, the Minister stressed that no single country can address challenges related to connectivity, cybersecurity, and digital trust alone, underscoring the importance of strong regional cooperation.
ARCEP Chad’s Director General, Haliki Choua Mahamat, aligned the workshop with Chad’s national agenda on digital transformation, public administration modernisation, and inclusive development. He highlighted fibre-optic infrastructure as a strategic backbone for digital sovereignty, economic competitiveness, and territorial integration. He also emphasised infrastructure mapping as a critical decision-making tool that enables accurate planning, optimised public and private investment, avoidance of costly duplication, and improved efficiency of public action.
ARTAC Executive Chairman, Christian Katende Mukinay, reaffirmed ARTAC’s role as a key platform for coordination among Central African regulators since its establishment in 2004. He called for stronger regional interconnection, experience-sharing, capacity building, and collective action, noting that sustainable progress depends on cooperation across borders. Meanwhile, ITU representative Serge Valéry Zongo highlighted the strategic importance of the workshop, placing issues of digital security, sovereignty, and the region’s digital future at the centre of discussions, while reiterating ITU’s commitment to supporting member states through technical and regulatory assistance.
The workshop will also include a meeting of experts from member countries to assess progress and implementation methods for free roaming in the sub-region. The session aims to harmonise approaches, address operational constraints, reduce user costs, and strengthen digital integration across Central Africa. Through this initiative, ARCEP Chad, ARTAC, and ITU reaffirm their shared ambition to build an interconnected, sovereign, inclusive, and competitive Central African digital ecosystem driven by regional cooperation and sustainable development.
