Toure, ex-ITU scribe for Nigeria’s Investment Forum at Telecom World 2016

Fomer Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Hamadoun Toure, has been named the keynote speaker at Nigeria’s Investment Forum at ITU Telecom World 2016, Bangkok, Thailand.

The forum is the highpoint of Nigeria’s participation in the event that is due to run from November 14 – 17, 2016.Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, is the Chief host at the forum which is slated for November 15, 2016.

Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, and the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of Nigerian communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, have also been listed as panelists at the forum.

A statement by Director, Public Affairs, at NCC, Tony Ojobo, also listed Chairman, Etisalat Nigeria, Hakeem Belo-Osagie and Managing Director, MainOne Cable Company, Ms. Funke Opeke, as panelists at the forum.

The forum will be moderated by Dr. Henry Nzekwu, a consummate multi-sectoral Team Leader and Executive Vice Chairman of MessageWise Limited

The theme for Nigeria’s participation this year is “Smart Communities: the key to a digital Nigeria”, which runs alongside the global theme “Collaborating in the Digital Economy.”

Apart from deliberating on and presenting the vast investment potentials in Nigeria’s fast growing ICT sector, the forum will create opportunity for Industry Stakeholders, Financiers and Entrepreneurs to share experiences and examine key development trends in technology, regulation, policy, business models, services and applications.

Toure, a founding Executive Director of SMART Africa Alliance, and immediate past Secretary General of ITU is a longstanding champion of ICTs as a driver of social and economic development.

Prior to his ascension to the post of Secretary General, Toure previously served as Director of ITU’s Telecommunications Development Bureau (BDT) from 1998 – 2006. In this role, he placed considerable emphasis on implementing the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), launching projects based on partnerships with international organisations, governments, the private sector and civil society.

Toure’s professional career started in his native land, Mali in 1979, building a solid career in the satellite industry, serving as Managing Engineer in Mali’s first International Earth Station.