Nigeria has handed over the mantle of leadership of the the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA) to the Republic of Guinea after one year in charge.
Executive vice chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, who served Nigeria’s tenure, handed over to the newly elected chairman of the assembly, Sekou Barry, of the Republic of Guinea.
The handover ceremony was one of the major highlights of the recently-concluded 19th annual general meeting (AGM) of WATRA which took place in Conakry, Republic of Guinea. The AGM equally approved WATRA’s new strategic management plan (SMP) 2022-2024.
Barry, who will preside over the affairs of the executive council of WATRA for the next one year, is the director general of the Telecommunication and Posts Regulatory Authority (ARPT) of the Republic of Guinea. The assembly also elected the representatives of Mali and Sierra-Leone as first and second vice chairmen respectively.
In his address at the event, Danbatta acknowledged the important role WATRA has been playing in creating policy, legal and regulatory frameworks for information and communication technology (ICT) in the sub-region since the mid-1990s and commended the synergy among member states.
Danbatta said some of his achievements as WATRA chairman include the delivery of draft four-year strategic plan in line with 18th AGM resolution, deployment of the new WATRA automated asset management system among others.
The EVC further assured his colleagues in WATRA of his commitment to supporting the new leadership in all ways possible. “As I hand over to the incoming chairman, please be assured of my continued support and that of the Nigerian Communications Commission and, indeed, the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to WATRA,” Danbatta said.
In his acceptance speech, Barry promised to work with the executive committee team and the management team to consolidate the achievements of the assembly, and to ensure greater success of the assembly for the future.
The 19th AGM was attended by the following 14 of the 16 WATRA member states: Togo, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Nigeria, Niger Republic, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea Bissau, Republic of Guinea, The Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Burkina Faso and Benin Republic. Ghana and Liberia were absent at the meeting.
