By MKPE ABANG
As Nigeria looks to the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector to shore up its revenue earnings, the immediate past Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Dr. Hamadoun Touré, has been announced as the keynote speaker at an investment forum Nigeria will host during this year’s ITU Telecom World.
Holding in the Thai capital, Bangkok, from November 14-17, the ITU Telecom World 2016 presents Nigeria a grand opportunity to showcase not only the achievements the country has garnered in the ICT sector since it underwent full liberalisation in 2001, but also a platform to expose to the world the potential in the country that is still waiting to be tapped by investors, hence the investment forum.
Born in Mali on September 3, 1953, Dr. Touré served as the Secretary General of the ITU, the specialised agency of the United Nations dedicated to ICTs, for two consecutive terms spanning eight years from January 2007 to December 2014. During his terms he worked to fulfil ITU’s mandate to ‘connect the world’ and help achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Dr. Touré actively promoted the ITU Connect series of events, with the first one, Connect Africa, which held in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2007. Connect Africa raised $55 billion in investment pledges to improve Africa’s telecommunications infrastructure over seven years. In the first two years, 2008 and 2009, $22 billion was invested in ICT infrastructure, mainly for mobile communications.
According to a statement by the Director, Public Affairs of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr. Tony Ojobo, the forum, which is the highpoint of Nigeria’s participation in the ITU Telecom World 2016, has the Nigerian Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu as the Chief host.
According to Ojobo, the theme for Nigeria’s participation at this year’s event is “Smart Communities: the key to a digital Nigeria”, which runs alongside the global theme “Collaborating in the Digital Economy”.
The statement listed other dignitaries who will serve as panellists at the Nigerian Investment Forum to include the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta.
Others include Chairman of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Hakeem Belo-Osagie, and Managing Director of MainOne, Funke Opeke.
Apart from deliberating on and presenting the vast investment potentials in Nigeria’s fast growing ICT sector, the forum will create opportunity for industry stakeholders, financiers and entrepreneurs to share experiences and examine key development trends in technology, regulation, policy, business models, services and applications.
Toure, a founding Executive Director of SMART Africa Alliance is a longstanding champion of ICTs as a driver of social and economic development.
Prior to his ascension to the post of Secretary General, Toure previously served as Director of ITU’s Telecommunications Development Bureau (BDT) from 1998 – 2006. In this role, he placed considerable emphasis on implementing the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), launching projects based on partnerships with international organisations, governments, the private sector and civil society.
Toure’s professional career started in his native land, Mali in 1979, building a solid career in the Satellite Industry and serving as Managing Engineer in Mali’s first International Earth Station.