Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George has declared Africa a force in global telecommunications standard-setting, pointing to concrete results from the last World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly (WTSA) as the continent kicks off preparatory work for its 2028 edition in Accra.
Delivering the keynote address at the opening of the First African Preparatory Meeting for WTSA-28, George said Africa’s performance at WTSA-24 demonstrated what coordinated regional action could achieve. Of the 37 Common Proposals submitted by African delegations, 34 were adopted, covering new resolutions on artificial intelligence (AI), the Metaverse, and International Telecommunications Union (ITU) strategic planning. Africa also secured 29 leadership positions across ITU structures, with experts from 13 countries serving as Chairs, Vice Chairs, and Telecommunication Standardisation Advisory Group (TSAG) Vice Chairs.
The five-day meeting, running from April 13 to 17, 2026, is being hosted by the National Communications Authority (NCA) in Accra in collaboration with the ITU and the African Telecommunications Union (ATU). It is being held alongside joint ITU-ATU workshops on Over-the-Top (OTT) services and the implementation of a common emergency number across Africa, as well as meetings of ITU-T Study Group 2 and 3 Regional Groups for Africa.
George set out what he described as Africa’s core technical priorities for the WTSA-28 cycle: closing the digital divide through rural broadband, strengthening cybersecurity frameworks, making connectivity more affordable through infrastructure sharing, and ensuring the safe and inclusive development of AI and the Internet of Things (IoT). He urged that standardisation must be guided by technology neutrality, inclusivity, and sustainability.
He also used the platform to rally support for Ghana’s bid to secure a seat on the ITU Radio Regulations Board (RRB). He appealed to ATU member countries to back the re-election of NCA Director-General Rev. Ing. Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko to the RRB at the next ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, scheduled for Doha, Qatar in November 2026.
In his welcome remarks, Rev. Ing. Fianko noted that the gathering coincides with the NCA’s 30th anniversary, describing the milestone as a reflection of three decades of regulatory leadership. He reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to standardisation as a pillar of interoperability, innovation, and digital trust, and highlighted the establishment of the NCA’s Type Approval and Conformance Laboratories as evidence of the country’s growing technical capacity.
ATU Secretary-General John Omo drew attention to Africa’s persistent connectivity gap, noting that while 66 percent of individuals aged 10 and above owned mobile phones in 2024, ownership had not translated into meaningful broadband access for hundreds of millions of citizens. He stressed that affordability remains a structural barrier and that the Accra discussions on OTT services are directly relevant to the economics of network investment across the continent.
ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) Director Seizo Onoe, in a solidarity statement, called for outcomes at WTSA-28 that reflect the needs of all member states. He underscored the ITU’s culture of consensus and noted that the strong results from WTSA-24 demonstrated what active industry participation and support for developing countries could produce.
The deliberations in Accra are expected to feed into Africa’s Common Positions, the formal mechanism through which the continent seeks to shape global ICT standards in line with its development priorities ahead of WTSA-28.
