By Emma Okonji
The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), Mr. Shola Taylor, who is a Nigerian telecoms expert, has pledged full information and communications technology (ICT) support for the newly elected President of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo.
Taylor made the pledge when he joined heads of state and distinguished guests from around the world at the inauguration of the newly elected President of the Republic of Ghana, recently.
“I was delighted to attend the inauguration of President Akufo-Addo. It was a truly unifying and inspiring celebration,” said Taylor.
“In my meeting with the president, I took the opportunity to pledge the continuous and enhanced support of the CTO to his presidency and Ghana, especially on ICT capacity development, cybersecurity and broadband infrastructure,” Taylor added
A human rights lawyer and former justice and foreign minister, President Akufo-Addo won last month’s tightly contested presidential election in the West African country.
Whilst in Ghana Taylor also held a series of high-level meetings with the CTO’s main partners: the Ministry of Communications, the National Communications Authority, the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications, the National Information Technology Agency and Vodafone Ghana, who chairs the CTO’s Programme for Development and Training. At their meeting, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Communications, Mr. Issah Yahaya, acknowledged the positive contribution of the CTO to ICT develoment in Ghana.
Since becoming a member country of the CTO in 1962, the country has received regular advice and expertise from the organisation in building its information and communication infrastructure and promoting universal access. Support provided in recent years has focused primarily on ICT policy and regulation. The country is considered to have one of the best approaches in managing universal access funds in Africa, supporting not only fixed access, but also wireless, broadband, broadcasting and other services.
“Ghana is making great strides in developing its ICT sector, and I very much look forward to the CTO partnering the new Ghanaian administration on the journey towards a successful e-economy,” Taylor said.
CTO is the oldest and largest Commonwealth intergovernmental organisation in the field of information and communication technologies. With a diverse membership spanning developed and least developed countries, small island developing states, and more recently also the private sector and civil society, the CTO aims to become a trusted partner for sustainable development for all through ICTs.
Shola Taylor was appointed Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation early last year and commenced work on 17 September same last year.
A Nigerian citizen, Taylor is a telecommunications engineer by training, with over 35 years of global experience in ICTs with government and the private sector.
Twice elected as a member of the International Telecoms Union (ITU’s) Radio Regulations Board in 2004, and in 2005, Taylor has a rich inside knowledge of international organisations. Early in his career, he worked in telecommunication engineering, including as senior engineer at Nigerian Telecommunications and spectrum engineer at Intelsat.
