Spio-Garbrah to Speak at Wafict Congress

Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, chief executive officer, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) has confirmed his participation as a key speaker at West Africa’s paramount conference on the furtherance of the frontiers of Africa’s burgeoning ICT sector.
Confirming his position as a key speaker to IT & Telecom Digest magazine, and conveners of the Wafict Congress 2009, Everlyn Oswald, personal assistant to Dr. Spio-Garbrah wrote: “on behalf of the management and staff of the CTO (Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation), we wish to thank you for your kind invitation for Dr. Spio-Garbrah to participate in the above event, and in principle, he would like to accept your invitation.”
Dr. Spio-Garbrah’s presence and key speaking slot at Wafict 2009 congress, which holds June 2-4, in Lagos, marks yet another endorsement of the African continent’s fastest growing telecom market status and his address at a forum wholly dedicated to discussing expansion of the frontiers of telecom in the continent is a plus to the region. The CTO’s CEO was a prominent speaker and organiser at the sixth Annual Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation Conference and Exhibition which was held in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja between October 6 and10, 2008. That event was co-hosted by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Mkpe Abang, editor-in-chief of IT & Telecom Digest, described the CTO’s CEO’s acceptance to be at Wafict 2009 as testament to the significance of the Nigerian telecom market not only among the comity of Commonwealth nations, but in the reckoning of the world at large. “Dr. Spio-Garbrah’s acceptance to grace WAFICT 2009, despite his very busy schedule reflects the standing of the Nigerian telecom market in the eyes of the world”.
“It is no longer news that Nigeria is the choice destination for investment in telecoms; from 2001 to date, foreign direct investment to the sector is estimated at $12 billion, figures published as at December 2008. And quite evidently, this figure has grown. Dr. Spio-Garbrah has in times past not concealed his admiration for the Nigerian telecoms market, which has defied several permutations and this is reflected by the astronomic rise from a mere 450,000 telephone lines in year 2000 to nearly 70 million active subscribers as at May 2009,” Abang stated.
“IT & Telecom Digest, being the sole organizer of the Wafict congress views Spio-Garbrah’s acceptance to grace the congress as an expression of confidence in the contents and news analysis of the monthly ICT magazine,” he enthused.
Among his other functions at Wafict 2009 Congress, include declaring open the ninth edition of the West African International Telecommunications and Information Communications Technology Exhibition (W.Afri.Tel), which will run simultaneously with the congress. W.Afri.Tel is West Africa’s leading ICT exhibition and the premier platform for showcasing new and innovative technologies and products by leading companies, not only from the West African sub-region and the African continent, but the world at large.
Prior to his appointment at the helm of affairs at the CTO, Dr. Spio-Garbrah has held several distinguished positions. He is a former Minister of Communications of the Republic of Ghana; one-time Ambassador of Ghana to the United States and Mexico; Minister of Education, Minister responsible for Mines and Energy and a member of UNESCO’s Executive Board in Paris. He served in the cabinet during the democratic regime of Jerry John Rawlings between 1994 and 2000.