What changed
Tanzania and COMESA opened a four-day consultation in Dodoma on October 20, 2026, focused on making digital connectivity more affordable across Eastern and Southern Africa.
The engagement brings together Tanzania’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, COMESA, Salience Consulting, development partners and private firms to develop:
- Financing recommendations
- Priority investment opportunities
- Least-cost connectivity plans
- Stronger data-sharing arrangements
Why it matters
Tanzania has already invested in its national broadband backbone, data centres, digital government services and telecommunications networks. The harder question is whether those investments can reach communities where deployment is expensive, electricity infrastructure is limited, populations are dispersed and commercial returns are uncertain.
That is why the consultation’s financing focus matters. Public-private partnerships, concessional financing and infrastructure sharing could lower the cost of extending networks into underserved areas. Geospatial data could also help countries coordinate projects, avoid duplicated infrastructure and direct money toward the largest connectivity gaps.
The consultation is a planning step, not yet a funded rollout. Its value will depend on whether the recommendations become approved financing models, identifiable projects and a timetable for deployment. Millions of people in the region remain offline, so the test is straightforward: whether better planning turns existing digital ambition into services people can actually afford.
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