The former secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Dr. Hamadoun Toure, has been appointed director general of Smart Africa.
This is one of the major decisions taken in parallel of the conference Transform Africa 2015 held in Kigali from 19 to October 21, 2015 with the participation of 2,500 delegates from 80 countries. Chaired by President Paul Kagame, the board of directors of Smart Africa includes the presidents of Burkina Faso, Gabon, the Mali, Kenya, Uganda, the Ivory Coast, South Sudan and Chad. To this group is to be added the African Union Commission and the general secretariat of the ITU.
The Council, which was held on the sidelines of the conference Transform Africa 201, has decided to activate the fund for the financing of fellowships and has taken note of the decision of the Government of Rwanda to put US$1 million available to the permanent secretariat of Smart Africa, based in Kigali.
Regarding the scholarships, the Council welcomed the pledges of South Sudan,
Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Gabon and the ITU. The choice of Dr. Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the international Telecom organization until 2014, expresses the desire of the board of directors of Smart Africa to give a new dimension to its activities.
Satellite systems Engineer, non-executive director of the board of directors of Inmarsat since March 2015, Dr. Toure is currently one of the most influential Africans in the field of telecommunications. His three-year term as executive director of Smart Africa takes effect from January 2016.
Source: SAMENA Council