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FINAL COMMUNIQUÉ
The Administrative Council of the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) held its 3rd Ordinary Session in Nairobi, Kenya from 13 - 16 May 2002.
Member States of the Administrative Council present were:
- North Africa: - Egypt
- West Africa: - Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali and Nigeria
- Central Africa: - Burundi, Cameroon and Congo (DR)
- East Africa: - Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda
- Southern Africa: - Lesotho, Malawi and Zambia
The following Ex-Officio Members were also in attendance:
- Kenya
- OAU
Invited organisations, ITU, ARSO, URTNA and KPMG also attended as observers.
The Opening Ceremony was presided over by Hon. Mathias KEAH, MP, Assistant Minister for Transport and Communications who represented the Guest of Honour, Hon. Musalia MUDAVADI, EGH, MP, Minister for Transport and Communication of the Republic of Kenya. In his keynote Address, he highlighted a number of key issues relative to the challenges of ICT development in Africa including Policy and Regulatory Framework, Manpower resources to manage ICT new technologies, Funding sources of ICT development, ICT infrastructure and industrialization in Africa and local language Content for Internet.
He wished the Delegates success in their deliberations and declared opened the 3rd Ordinary Session of the Administrative Council.
The Minister's Statement was preceded by Statements delivered by ATU Secretary General, Mr. Jan MUTAI, the Representative of OAU Secretary General, Mr. Yao AFANOU, the Representative of ITU Secretary General, Mr. Brahima SANOU and the outgoing Chairman of the Administrative Council, Col. Nestor MUSIGARO.
The Secretary General expressed his gratitude to the Government and People of Kenya through the Guest of Honour for the support they have given to ATU. He informed the meeting of a number of actions being undertaken by the Union including Proactive response to globalisation, Progressing regional integration and Implementing Initiatives at Continental and Global level such as NEPAD and WSIS.
The Representatives of OAU and ITU conveyed the support of their organisations of ATU.
The Outgoing Chairman congratulated the Secretary General and his team for their efforts throughout the year and urged Member States to give tangible support to the ATU General Secretariat.
The Vote of Thanks was delivered by Mr. Samuel Chepkong'a, Director General of the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK).
The Council elected the following Bureau:
Chairman: Nigeria, [represented by Eng. Ernest NDUKWE, Chief Executive Officer and
Vice-Chairman of Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC)].Vice-Chairman: Malawi, (represented by Mr. E. J. NAMANJA, Director General of Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority).
The Council sat in two Committees, the Council Committee on Strategic Plan CC/SP and the
Council Committee on Partnership Programme CC/PP to consider various agenda items.The Council adopted the Reports of the Committees and the Resolutions, Decision and Recommendation therein.
The output could be summarised as follows:
1. Council authorized the Secretary General to sign Co-operation agreements with Regional, Continental and Global partners for the development of ICT in Africa.
2. Council adopted an interim process for evolving African Common position / proposals that will reflect Africa's single voice for international ICT conferences
3. Council expressed appreciation to Member States that gave tangible support to the activities of the Union for the year 2001 / 2002 and encouraged those who were lagging behind to redouble their effort to enable the Union play its crucial role of co-ordinating African position in the globalization processes.
4. Council requested Members of the Strategic Plan Committee to review and enhance the Strategic Plan and called for the holding of a 5day meeting in Nairobi just before the Conference of Plenipotentiaries.
5. Council approved the Programme of work and the Budget for the Financial year 2002 - 2003.
6. Council after considering the Audited Financial Report for the year 2000 - 2001 presented by the External Auditors noted and recommended its submission to the forthcoming Conference of Plenipotentiaries for final approval.The Closing Session was presided over by the Chairman of Council.
A Vote of Thanks to the Government and People of the Republic of Kenya was read by Mr. Niakate Abdoulaye, Head of Delegation of Mali on behalf of all the Participants.
Nairobi, 16 May 2002.