African telecom markets are moving away from the single wholesale network as their default model for infrastructure sharing, according to an analysis published by TechAfrica News.

The single wholesale network model, under which one shared network serves multiple retail operators while a regulator or state entity controls the passive and active layers, has attracted policy attention across the continent for more than a decade. The new assessment argues that African governments and operators are now reconsidering that approach in favour of more flexible sharing arrangements.

The shift matters because network economics in Africa remain difficult. Rural coverage obligations, heavy infrastructure costs and limited average revenue per user have pushed regulators in several markets toward shared-network solutions. The single wholesale model promised lower deployment costs and faster rollout. In practice, several implementations have struggled with commercial and governance questions.

What does this change for operators?

For mobile operators, the rethink signals a move toward sharing arrangements that preserve competitive differentiation. Instead of a single state-backed wholesale network carrying all retail traffic, the emerging pattern favours structures such as tower sharing, active RAN sharing, fiber joint ventures and national roaming agreements. These let operators share capital expenditure while keeping control of their core networks, spectrum strategies and customer relationships.

For regulators, the question is financial. Single wholesale networks concentrate investment risk in one entity and require either state funding or committed anchor tenancy from retail operators. Where anchor tenants have not materialised or where wholesale pricing disputes have arisen, rollout targets have slipped. Alternatives spread that risk across commercial parties.

Why the single model lost momentum

The single wholesale network concept drew strong support from vendors and from development finance institutions, which promoted it as a route to universal coverage in low-density, low-income markets. TechAfrica News frames the current reassessment as a correction to that promotion: infrastructure sharing in Africa is expanding, but through negotiated commercial agreements rather than monolithic wholesale mandates.

That distinction separates commercial reality from vendor marketing. Sharing is happening. Tower companies already operate at scale across the continent, and fiber builds increasingly proceed through consortium structures. What is being reconsidered is the specific regulatory architecture: one network, one wholesale operator, many retail service providers.

The analysis appears as African operators face sustained pressure on capital budgets and as governments push coverage obligations into licensing conditions. Sharing in some form is now standard practice rather than exception. The open question is the shape of the model.

TechAfrica News identifies the trend as continental rather than market-specific, without tying the reassessment to a single operator or regulator. That breadth is itself the story. The policy debate has moved from whether to share infrastructure to how much of the stack to share, and under whose control.

Expect the reassessment to shape upcoming licence renewals and coverage-obligation negotiations across African markets, as regulators weigh negotiated commercial sharing against renewed single-network proposals.