The Regulatory Design Problem Revisited:Tanzania?s Pioneering Position in Africa
Van Gorp,Annemijn|Maitland, Carleen / 2009

While inefficient regulatory regimes in many developing countries have been blamed for impeding ICT market development, a remarkable exception constitutes the East African country of Tanzania. Among its accomplishments stands the noteworthy implementation of a fully converged, technology and service neutral, licensing framework in 2005 as the first country in sub-Saharan Africa. While the full effects still remain to be seen, barriers to entry have already decreased and four new network operators have been licensed. This remarkable situation asks for greater insight into the underlying factors that drove these developments. To this extent, this paper analyzes: 1. how Tanzania?s regulation has impacted Tanzania?s market development; and 2. the organizational and contextual factors that have led to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority?s (TCRA) effective regulatory activities. Findings indicate that TCRA?s strong focus on capacity building, for example through internal training and workshops, and participation in bilateral exchange programs, underlies regulatory governance. These achievements were due in part to TCRA?s high level of independence through independent funding mechanisms and lack of capacity of the Ministry, which pressed the regulator to compensate for lack of policy.