The African Union’s ICT arm, the African Telecommunications Union (ATU), has announced the re-election of its Secretary General, Kenya’s John Omo, to the Union for another term of four years.
Omo sailed through the elections unopposed after his only competitor, Mauritania’s Mohamed Ahmed Ould Abderrahmane, stepped down.
The elections, held in Algiers at a forum that brought together African ICT Ministers and the entire membership of the Union, also saw Algeria take over the chairmanship of the Conference of Plenipotentiaries (CPL) – the Union’s top organ comprising African ICT Ministers.
In his acceptance speech, Omo pledged to sustain the focus of the Union’s “energies and resources to enable Africa stamp a strong footprint and authority on the global economy, especially for areas where ICT can make an impact in.
He thanked the Conference for the endorsement and expressed his commitment to the values of inclusivity, accountability, service and cooperation in managing the Union and implementing his agenda.
Omo’s first term saw the Union engage robustly in global ICT forums and also grow its membership to 49 African countries and 56 associate members. He also, among other accomplishments, oversaw the re-planning of FM broadcasting frequencies in Africa which has generated over 2500 channels for the continent; and the launch of a Strategy Framework for Africa on the Migration from Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) to 6 (IPv6) which handles data sent over computer networks more efficiently, improves internet performance and increases internet security.
Karim Bibi Triki, the Algerian Minister for Posts & Telecommunications, assumed the chairmanship of the Plenipotentiaries – the Union’s top organ – succeeding Kenya’s ICT Minister Joe Mucheru, who has been at the helm for the last four years.
Handing over the chairmanship on behalf of Joe Mucheru, Kenya’s Principal Secretary, State Department of Broadcasting and Telecommunications, Ministry of Information, Communications Technology and Youth Affairs Esther Koimett called on ATU Member States, Associate Members and partners to work together in the implementation of the Union’s new Strategic Plan in order to accelerate the development of ICTs in Africa. In taking over the chairmanship, TRIKI equally underscored the need for ICT stakeholders to collaborate more, indicating that there were already many successful home-grown cases to learn from such as ICTs/financial services.
The Conference issued the ‘Algiers Declaration’ underscoring the importance of telecommunications/ICTs for Africa’s socio-economic development and committed to working towards the sustained development of Telecommunications/ICTs infrastructure and services in accordance with the African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy. “ICTs contribute to reducing the social and economic differences, the widening economic gap, and the gender divide at the individual, national and regional levels,” reads part of the Declaration.
The Conference further agreed on the need, at international telecommunications/ICTs for the harmonization of, and support for, African positions on issues pertaining to telecommunication/ICTs development, including candidatures for international ICT positions.
On the fringes of the Conference, the Ministers of Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauretania, Niger and Nigeria signed the amended Memorandum of Understanding on the Trans-Saharan Fibre Backbone Link, committing to the development of the link across these member states.
At the kind invitation of Isa Ali Ibrahim, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, the Conference agreed to convene in a regular session in Abuja in 2026.
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