The West African International Telecommunications and Information Communication Technology Exhibition (W.Afri.Tel), along side West African Information and Communications Technology (Wafict) Congress opens in Lagos this Tuesday, June 2, 2009. The exhibition, regarded as the premier medium for showcasing the latest ICT technologies by leading ICT companies within and outside the region, is in its ninth year.
The Wafict Congress is introduced as an avenue for brainstorming by intellectuals and professionals in the ICT sector. The conference will focus on sustaining the growth in the sub-region through new technologies, and seeking ways of tackling the challenges in the sector, hence the theme: "Harnessing New Technologies for Telecom/ICT growth in West Africa." The W.Afri.Tel exhibition and WAFICT Congress will hold at the Expo Centre and Coral Hall, both at the Oceanview Restaurant, Victoria Island, Lagos.
This year's W.Afri.Tel and the Wafict Congress have a special chapter that will please visitors and delegates: Chief Cornelius Adebayo, former Communications Minister, during whose tenure the most phenomenal growth curves in the Nigerian telecom history took place, will be making a special appearance. He will be joined by other dignitaries and speakers to open the exhibition and conference. Chief Adebayo, highly respected and principled, returned from abroad, only recently to, among other issues of national interest, attend W.Afri.Tel and WAFICT Congress.
On hand to lend weight to the W.Afri.Tel exhibition and Wafict Congress is Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, the chief executive officer of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO).
Spio-Garbrah's acceptance to speak at the Wafict Congress is regarded as an endorsement of the Congress by the CTO as a strong avenue for furthering the ICT growth in the sub-region as a whole. The CTO itself is highly involved in organising ICT events across the length and breadth of the Commonwealth member countries.
Leading the list of eminent speakers for the Congress, however, is Ernest Ndukwe, acclaimed nationally and internationally as Africa’s number one telecom regulator. The pedigree of the Wafict Congress was indeed bolstered with the confirmation by Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, the executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, as a speaker. The amiable helmsman of the Nigerian telecom regulatory agency, fondly referred to as "Mr. Telecom" is globally admired for his role in the Nigerian telecom revolution.
It is under his stewardship as the Nigerian telecom industry regulator, that the once dormant telecom sector has taken its pride of place as one of the fastest growing telecom sectors in the world. Intending CTO participants have expressed interest in hearing from the Nigerian regulator, its policy direction on sustaining the growth which, against all odds, has not experienced a plummet in the connection of phone lines.
List of exhibitors to W.Afri.Tel include leading telecoms operators in Nigeria like MTN Nigeria, Globacom, Etisalat, Multi-Links Telkom, Visafone, Simbanet, Simba Industries and MTI Plc. Others are Harris Stratex, ICT Convergence, Anabel Mobile, Helios Towers , Mi-fone, Talia, Galmar, Skylinks, ECAS, Gilat Satcom, Multisource, Lightening Networks and Intex Technologies.
W.Afri.Tel is organised by South African based Exhibition Management Services (EMS), in partnership with IT & Telecom Digest, Africa' s premier medium for ICT reportage, and was first staged in June 2001. The WAFICT Congress is organised by IT & Telecom Digest.
