Speaker Biographies

Speakers

Moderators

Abdoulkarim Soumaila

Secretary General, ATU

Mr. Abdoulkarim Soumaila is the current Secretary General of the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) since January 2011, having been elected at an Ordinary Session of ATU plenipotentiary Conference held in Brazzaville - Congo, in September 2010. He is leading the continental body entrusted with building consensus within African countries and coordinating African Common Proposals in international fora. Prior to his election as the Secretary General of ATU, he was the Director of Information Technologies at the Ministry of Communication, New Information Technologies and Culture in Niger from 2007 to 2010.

Mr. Soumaila in his 20 years as a Telecommunication expert and professional, has acquired a solid experience in Management of Telecommunication networks and services development strategy and has contributed immensely to the implementation of sectorial policies and innovative investment projects in several African countries. He has also diligently managed the affairs of the Union for the period he has been the Secretary General.

Mr. Soumaila holds a Master of science in Operational Telecommunications from the University of Coventry (UK) and Telecommunications Application Diploma from National Institute of Posts and Telecommunication in Rabat (Morocco).

Joseph Mucheru

EGH Cabinet Secretary , Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology Kenya

Mr. Joe Mucheru was appointed Cabinet Secretary by His Exellency the President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2015. He was formerly the Google “Sub-Saharan Africa ambassador” as well as Google Country Manager Kenya, based in Nairobi. He joined Google in June 2007 where he lead the delivery of strategy, business planning and operations. Before joining Google, he worked at Wananchi Online, a company he co-founded in 1999. He held various roles at the company including Strategy & Business Director and CEO. He studied at London’s City University and also attended Stanford University’s Executive Program in 2008

Francois Rancy

Director, BR , ITU

Mr François Rancy was elected Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau by the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2010 (PP-10) in Guadalajara, Mexico. He took office on 1 January 2011. He was confirmed in a second term by the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2014 (PP-14) in Busan, Republic of Korea.
François Rancy is an engineer, a graduate of the École Polytechnique (1977) and the École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (Paris, 1979).
From 1979 to 1997, he worked as systems engineer and subsequently Head of Department in France Télécom's research laboratories, where he was in charge of studies on national and international satellite systems and activities relating to the spectrum and the regulation of satellite systems. As from 1992, his responsibilities expanded to cover the entire radiocommunication sphere.
From 1997 to 2004, he was Director of Spectrum Planning and International Affairs at the National Frequency Agency (ANFR).
From 2004 to 2010, he was Director-General of ANFR, responsible for frequency management in France.
In October 2010, he was elected Director, BR by the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference.
At the international level, he led the coordination of European delegations (CEPT) at WRC-03 and chaired the European Union group on spectrum management policy (RSPG) in 2007. He chaired the ITU–R Special Committee on Regulatory and Procedural Matters from 1997 to 2003, and the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2007.
François Rancy has been awarded the ITU Silver Medal (2007) and the titles of Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (1998) and Ordre national du mérite (1992)

Graham Friend

Managing Director, Coleago

Graham Friend is a specialist in financial modelling, strategic business planning and valuation and is a leading expert on spectrum auctions and spectrum valuation. Graham has been consulting for more than 20 years and has been in the telecoms sector for over 15 years.

Graham has led more than forty spectrum valuation and auction projects and has guided clients through some of the most complex spectrum auctions in the world. Graham has led projects for both regulators and operators and has delivered projects on every continent. Graham’s experience also encompasses MVNOs, mobile licence applications, due diligence and a wide range of strategic and operational projects.

Graham is also one of the most innovative developers and inspiring facilitators of business games, simulations and management development programmes within the telecoms sector today. Programmes developed by Graham include The Mobile Operator War Game, The X-Venture Game and The Dragons’ Apprentice, which is based on the popular television formats The Apprentice and Dragons’ Den.

Prior to forming Coleago Consulting in 2001 with Stefan Zehle, Graham worked for Cable & Wireless where he provided internal consulting support across the C&W portfolio of mobile businesses and prior to C&W Graham worked as a management consultant at Price Waterhouse Coopers in the Financial Management and Business Appraisal Practice. Graham holds both an M.A. and an M.Phil in Economics from Trinity College, Cambridge and is also a Chartered Accountant.

Along with Coleago’s Stefan Zehle, Graham co-authored the award winning “Economist Guide to Business Planning” and he has also co-authored the “Economist Guide to Business Modelling.” Away from the consulting arena Graham is a keen triathlete and has represented Great Britain at the Age Group Olympic Distance World Championships. Graham lives in Verbier, Switzerland with his young family.

Richard Womersley

Director of Spectrum Consulting, LS telcom

Richard is director of spectrum consulting for LS telcom. He has 20 over years consulting and business experience working in the radio spectrum management, public telecommunications, digital broadcasting and satellite industries. He has worked for regulators, network operators, financiers, governments and end-users on issues covering national and international policy; regulation and its impact; pricing, auctions and licensing; cost modelling and tariff setting; planning and consultation; network specification and procurement; and digital switch-over. His work has been international in nature having taken him to every continent except Antarctica. Richard is also an experienced trainer having been running courses on spectrum management and policy for over 15 years.

In addition to providing consultancy advice and training, Richard’s career has embraced roles in a military communications company, as a transmission manager for BBC World Service and business manager for the UK’s largest broadcast infrastructure provider ntl: (now Arqiva) giving him a broad perspective on telecommunications and broadcast technologies and industries, their commercialisation and their regulation.

Kezias Mwale

Radiocommunications Coordinator, African Telecommunications Union

He holds an MSc in Broadband and Mobile Communications with distinction from the University of Kent (2008). He started his spectrum management career as a junior engineer in 2003 at the Zambia ICT Authority, rising to manager spectrum management in 2010 – a position he held until his appointment by the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) as a Radiocommunications Coordinator in 2012. He has been a keen and active contributor to national, regional and international spectrum management successes including development of the first Zambian national spectrum plan, the SADC spectrum plan, the GE-06 Conference during which he was appointed one of the planning experts for Eastern and Southern Africa.

Daniel Obam

Communications Radio Technology Expert, National Communications Secretariat, Kenya

Daniel Obam works at the National Communications Secretariat as ICT Policy Advisor to the Government of Kenya, and is the Project Manager responsible for implementing the roadmap for migration to digital TV in Kenya. He is an ITU Expert on spectrum management and also has policy and regulatory expertise on wireless broadband.

He holds an MSc in Engineering Management from the University of Southern California and a BSc (HONS-TELECOMMS) from the University of Nairobi, in addition to a Certificate in Project Management & Appraisal from the Arthur D. Little Management Education Institution, Massachusetts.

He is also the Chairman of the ITU Radiocommunication Advisory Group.

Sarah Kabahuma

Frequency Planning and Authorization Officer, Uganda Communications Commission

Ms. Sarah Kabahuma Agaba has vast experience in the telecommunication sector; having worked for Airtel Uganda, Ericsson and the Uganda Communications Commission, the Regulator in Uganda. She has participated and contributed both at regional and international fora where she has provided insight on the current technology and policy trends taking place in the ICT space. She is currently working with Uganda Communications Commission in Spectrum Management Division as a Frequency Planner. Her major goal is to provide a positive impact to the ICT space. Sarah holds an honours Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree which she obtained from Makerere University, Kampala and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cape Town.

Francis Wangusi

Director General , Communications Authority of Kenya

Mr. Francis W. Wangusi is the Director-General of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA). He was appointed to the position on 21st August 2012 for a period of three years, and later re-appointed in 2015 for a further four years.
With over 20 years’ experience in the ICT Sector, Mr. Wangusi has previously served in various capacities at the then Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK). He joined the Authority in 2000 at the level of Assistant Director and rose through the ranks to his current position. He served as the Director in charge of Broadcasting and Special Projects as well as the Director in charge of Licensing, Compliance and Standards (LCS).
Prior to joining the Authority, Mr. Wangusi worked at the defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (KP&TC). He also served as a Senior Lecturer at the former Kenya College for Communications Technology (KCCT), now Multimedia University.
Mr. Wangusi has played a pivotal role in a number of key projects that have positively impacted on the ICT Sector in Kenya. He also represented the Authority in the preparation of the Kenya/Italy Bilateral Agreement on the Utilization of the San Marco Space Centre and operationalization of the National Space Secretariat.
Mr. Wangusi holds a Masters degree in Space Sciences with specialization in Satellite Communications from the International Space University, France; a BSc in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Rome, Italy and a Charted Engineer Part II Certificate from the Institute of Electronics Engineering, UK. He is also a holder of Global Executive Masters Degree in Business Administration (GEMBA) from the United States International University (USIU) Africa.
In recognition of his distinguished service rendered to the nation in the ICT sector, in 2013, Mr. Wangusi was decorated with a Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS) by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Ally Yahaya Simba

Executive Secretary , East African Communications Organisation

Dr. Ally Y. Simba is the Executive Secretary of the East African Communications Organisations (EACO). He was appointed to the position on 1st August 2017 for a period of four years. Prior to his appointment he had served as a Director of Knowledge Management with the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH). He has more than 16 years of experience in communication industry where he has worked as an Engineer with a mobile phone operator, as a researcher, as regulator, and as policy maker with the central government of the United Republic of Tanzania.
He received his B.Sc. (Hons.) degree in Electronics Science and Communications from the University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, in 1998, and the M.E and Ph.D. degrees in Electronics and Information Engineering from Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, in 2003 and 2006, respectively.

Dr. Simba was an Expert Researcher with the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Tokyo, Japan from 2006 to 2011, where he was involved in research on the effect of exposure from mobile phones and base stations to the human health. From 2011 to 2013, he was a Manager for Planning and Research with the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. From 2013 to 2015, he served as a Director of ICT at the Ministry of Communication Science and Technology (MCST) of the United Republic of Tanzania and later appointed to the position of Director General of TCRA in July 2015, a position he served until December, 2016. Dr. Simba has published widely in peer-reviewed international journals and presented his research work in more than 30 international conferences. He participated actively in the work of the Study Group 5 of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) since 2009.

During his tenure at the MCST, Dr. Simba was a group leader of the local expert group which formulated Tanzania’s Cyber laws, namely Cyber Crime Act and E-Transactions Act in 2015 and served as Project Director for the World Bank funded Regional Communication Infrastructure Programme (RCIP) as well as National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) Project.

Dr. Simba is a Chartered Engineer, registered with the U.K. Engineering Council and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, U.K., where he served an International Professional Registration Advisor for Engineering Professional Registration from April 2011 to March 2014. He is also a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Dr. Simba appears in 11th Edition of the Marquis Who's Who in Science and Engineering, 2011–2012. He was the recipient of the Japanese Government Scholarship (Monbusho Scholarship) from 2000 to 2006.

Jeffrey Yan

Director, Technology Policy, Microsoft

Jeffrey Yan is Director of Technology Policy at Microsoft where he holds global responsibilities on regulatory policy engagements in areas of broadband, spectrum, Internet governance, and cloud computing. He had over 20 years of research & development, business management, and regulatory policy experiences in the ICT industry.

Jeffrey joined Microsoft in 2006 and has held various senior positions in the Entertainment & Devices division, Technology and Research group, and Corporate, External and Legal Affairs group. He represented Microsoft in many international technology and policy forums such as ITU, IGF, IIC, and ICANN, and industry associations such as Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) and Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA). Prior to Microsoft, he had a 13-year telecom career with Nortel Networks, where he held various senior positions in R&D, systems engineering, product management, and sales & marketing functions in North America and Asia Pacific markets.

Jeffrey graduated from Dalhousie University, Canada, with an honors degree in Computer Science. He did post-graduate studies in Software Engineering and Business Management.

Clovis Nugame

Frequency Management and Control Officer, Agence de Régulation et Contrôle des Télécommunications, Burundi

NUGAME Clovis works at the Agence de Regulation et Contrôle des Télécommunications (Burundi Telecom Regulator) as frequencies management and control officer. He participate in ITU-R working groups. He also a part time lecturer at public and private universities in BURUNDI. He worked as network engineer at Smart East Africa (mobile operator in Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania).
He holds a master degree in telecommunications engineering from Saint Petersburg State University of Telecommunications (Russia).

Ross Bateson

Special Adviser Government Affairs, GSMA

Ross has worked for the GSMA as a special adviser on government affairs since 2007. Recently his projects have included defining use of the Digital Dividend with the mobile and broadcasting community in Russia, Eastern Europe and the CIS, and coordinating political engagement on the GSMA's Mobile Broadband project in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Prior to the GSMA Ross worked at telecoms consultancy Access Partnership where he served as a director charged with government affairs and as the lead financial analyst at TelecomFinance. Ross holds an Honours Degree from Manchester University.

Andrew Rugege

Regional Director for Africa, ITU

Andrew Rugege, a veteran of 26 years in the Information Technology field is currently the Regional Director for Africa of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN Specialized Agency for Telecom and ICT, based in Addis Ababa. He is also the Representative of the ITU to the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Union Commission (AUC) in Ethiopia.
Andrew is responsible for collaboration with and assistance to the ITU Members States in Africa and the development of Telecommunications/ ICTs in the continent. He believes that by putting ITU’s resources and expertise at the disposal of African Member States, Telecommunications/ICT can become the backbone of Africa’s knowledge-based social-economic development.
Prior to joining the ITU, Andrew served in different executive positions in the private sector, including as the COO of MTN Rwanda, a mobile Telecom Operator, CEO of Artel Communications, a VSAT-based Rural Telecom services provider also in Rwanda and as Director of International Business Development at ABSinteractive in Washington D.C.
Andrew’s formal training is in Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science & Business Administration, for which he holds Masters Degrees from the Universities of Aberdeen in Scotland and Marist College in New York respectively. Passionate about sustainable leadership in Africa, Andrew is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute and the Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI-EA).

Shola Saani

Senior Policy Manager, Africa, GSMA

Shola Sanni joined GSMA in 2016 as Policy Manager – Africa. She is based in the GSMA Africa office in Nairobi and is responsible for the delivery of GSMA’s various advocacy programs on mobile sector policy in East Africa. She works with the Africa Policy Team to engage policymakers, regulators and other stakeholders in the mobile ecosystem to disseminate GSMA’s public policy messaging on issues such as spectrum, taxation, KYC and infrastructure sharing. She also leads on mYouth/Child Online Protection issues in Sub Saharan Africa.Shola holds an LLM Masters Degree in International & Commercial Law from the University of Hertfordshire and is an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Ben Roberts

Chief Technical Officer, Liquid Telecom

Ben joined LTK as CEO in 2013, and has been the Chief Technical Officer for Liquid Telecom Group since 2006. With over 20 years experience across a range of technologies in design, support, integration and operational management roles, he has led the group’s networking and product strategy, expanding its technology base and fibre network across Africa. Before joining Liquid Telecom, Ben was responsible for electronics design and satellite systems at Ericsson UK Limited. He also worked with Lotus Cars, the British sports car manufacturer, as an engineer. Ben holds a BSc Hons Physics from the University of Bristol in the UK.

Patrick van Niftrik

Vice President, Spectrum Management & Development, EMEA, SES

Mr. Van Niftrik is Vice President Spectrum Management & Development, EMEA. In this role he is responsible for spectrum management and ITU related activities with focus on orbital assignment and spectrum utilization issues and proceedings for the EMEA region.

Mr. Van Niftrik has also worked in a number of other roles such as Sales- and Capacity Management engineering. He joined SES in The Hague, The Netherlands, in August 2000 after having worked for three years in Madrid, Spain, on the precursor of the European satellite navigation system GALILEO.

He holds a Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands, and is currently working from the SES Dubai Office.

Elizabeth Migwalla

Senior Director and Head of Government Affairs, Africa, Qualcomm

Elizabeth Migwalla is Senior Director and Head of Government Affairs (Africa) for Qualcomm International Incorporated (Qualcomm). In this role, which she has held for eight years, Elizabeth interfaces directly with key government ministries, regulatory authorities as well as regional and international regulatory forums, in order to drive the adoption of advanced broadband wireless technologies and service on the continent.

Elizabeth’s distinguished career in various aspects of telecommunications engineering, operations, services and policy spans more than 31 years. She has built a reputation as one of Africa’s leading experts on communications policy through her many accomplishments during this period. In 2012 Elizabeth was named among the top 50 female executives in Middle East and Africa by CommsMEA magazine.

Prior to joining Qualcomm Elizabeth served The Boeing Company as its Regional Director for Regulatory Affairs for four years. Elizabeth also performed a similar role for ICO Global Communications for a period of five years.

Before entering the private sector in 1997, Elizabeth worked at the Kenya Post and Telecommunications Corporation, as both head of its International Services and Planning and Engineering departments. Elizabeth holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Engineering from the University of Nairobi (Kenya), and an MBA from Bond University in Australia.

Stephen Talbot

Head of International Spectrum Policy, Ofcom

Stephen is currently Head of International Spectrum Policy in the
Strategy, International, Technology and Economists team of Ofcom
(UK) and has been in that position for 4 years. He was the Head of Delegation to CPM15-2 and Deputy Head to WRC-15. Previous to working on international matters he worked in the team concerned with the UK spectrum award of the 10, 28, 32 and 40 GHz bands.
He is currently one of the Vice Chairman of the ECC Working Group for Frequency Management (WG-FM). Recently was appointed as Chair of FM57, which is looking at the technical feasibility of RLAN in the 5925 – 6425 MHz band.
Stephen holds an HNC in electronic and electrical engineering, and has been with Ofcom since its inception in December 2003. Previous to Ofcom, Stephen worked at the
Radiocommunications Agency (the Government predecessor to Ofcom) in a number of posts; Radio Investigation and Enforcement, Satellite and Space Sciences and the International Regulation Team.

Bashir Patel

Global Spectrum & Policy Regulator, ESOA

Bashir Patel is Inmarsat’s Regional Advisor for the South Asia, Middle East and Africa (SAMEA) region. He is widely recognized as a highly experienced executive in ICT, satellite systems and defence aerospace. He has over 35 years experience in the high tech industry, working mainly in the telecom sector including satellites and defence industries, both in management consulting as well as in regional regulatory policy, business and market development. He has been working with the Governments throughout the regions and launched satellite communications technologies as far back as mid 1980’s. He is a passionate technologist with experience gained from his time spent in advance aerospace projects in BAe Systems, Inmarsat, ICO Global Communications and prior to re-joining Inmarsat in 2013 as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), dealing with 54 Commonwealth Governments around the world.

Cesar Gutierrez Miguelez

Head of Middle East and Africa Wireless Regulatory Policy, Huawei

Cesar Gutierrez joined Huawei in November 2016 as head of Wireless Regulatory Policy for Africa and Middle East. He leads on key initiatives for Africa such as the identification of the 3300 – 3400 MHz band for mobile and the work in preparation of the WRC19. Previously, Cesar was a Senior Policy Advisor with the Ofcom in the UK where he was involved in several spectrum and consumer policy projects, notably the policy and the implementation of Ofcom’s TV white spaces programme. Before, Cesar was with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute where he was part of the leadership team of 3GPP Radio Access Network group. He had a key role in a number of high profile initiatives, such as the kick off of LTE specification in 3GPP. Cesar has a degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the Polytechnics University of Madrid, and a Master degree in Business Administration from the University of Oxford.

Galiam Ouedraogo

Head of Radio Spectrum Planning and Coordination Service, ARCEP BURKINA

Galiam OUEDRAOGO is responsible of planning and coordination service in the Spectrum Management department of ARCEP Burkina and Vice Chair of ITU-R Study group 1.

He has worked on numerous Telecom projects in Europe (UPC Broadband in Holland, SFR and Bouygues Telecom in France) before joining ARCEP Burkina. He is working on spectrum planning, terrestrial and spatial coordination and several national projects studies.

He played an active role in Burkina Faso preparation and was agenda item 10 ATU coordinator during WRC-15, defending Africa positions related to 5G Topic. He is involved in WRC-19 preparation process.

Galiam holds an MSc Degree in Engineering – Electronics and Communication Systems from INSA de Rennes and an MSc in Management from Telecom and Management SudParis.

Richard Makgotlho

Representative, ICASA

Bio to be added shortly.

Tom Olwero

Acting Director, Frequency Spectrum Management, CA Kenya

Tom Mbadi Olwero is the Director in charge of Frequency Spectrum Management Department at the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA). He holds a B.Sc. (Hons.) Electrical Engineering (Light Current option) and is currently finalising a Masters of Business Administration (Management).

Mr. Olwero has over 33 years experience in the ICT sector in ICT Regulation, Planning and Engineering, Licensing, Homologation. He has attended several specialized professional courses in ICT, Leadership, Change Management (Leading Change, Strategy through to implementation) among others, and has participated in several ITU Radiocommunication meetings and World conferences and ITU Development sector meetings both internationally and locally. He is presently the Chair of Kenya’s Preparatory Committee for WRC-19.
Mr. Olwero previously worked for 14 years with the defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation where he was involved with planning, installation and commissioning of telecommunication systems. He has also worked for 18 years with the CA.
He is a member of the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK), Institute of Engineers of Kenya (IEK), Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers US (IEEE) and The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). His research interests are Change Management effects on telecommunications sector and New and Emerging communications technologies.

Pape Cire Cisse

Head of Networks Quality Control, ARTP, Senegal

Mr. PAPE CIRE CISSE holds a MSc. Degree from the Odessa National Academy of Telecommunications (USSR) and a MBA from IAE - Paris Dauphine.

His career started with the telecommunications operator SONATEL where he was responsible for engineering and spectrum frequency planning.

After joining the ICT Regulator ARTP in 2002, he served for more than 10 years as Director of Radiocommunications and Director of Radiocommunications, Network and Services.

Mr. CISSE is also a trainer at the “Ecole Supérieure Multinationale des Télécommunications (ESMT) in Dakar” in the fields of radio propagation and spectrum management.

In 2010, Mr. CISSE headed the National Technical Committee responsible for the drafting of the digital transition strategy in Senegal.

Also, from July 2014 to July 2016, he was the Director of the DTT project at EXCAF TELECOM, the company responsible for the deployment and operation of the digital television infrastructure.

Mr. CISSE has led many studies and missions of training as an expert and trainer in several African countries, particularly in the areas of:

─ Spectrum management and monitoring,
─ DTT roll out,
─ Migration strategy
─ Spectrum refarming and pricing,
─ digital dividend,
─ Radio propagation,
─ Audit of spectrum occupancy,
─ Type approval,
─ Non-ionizing radiation, etc.

He also participated as a panelist at several forums and roundtables.

Wydeman Coetzee

Regulatory & Industry Analyst, Ericsson

Bio to be added shortly.

Tapera Kazembe

Manager Spectrum Management, POTRAZ, Zimbabwe

Bio to be added shortly.

Matthew Harrison-Harvey

Managing Executive, International Legal and Regulatory, Vodacom Group

Matthew works on legal and regulatory matters across Vodacom Group operations outside of South Africa, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania. He has worked in legal, regulatory, and external affairs roles – both at Group and in country level – in the mobile communications sector for the Vodafone and Vodacom Groups since 1999. A British national, with Africa in his heart, and passionate about the contribution of our sector to citizen’s lives and the role of legal and regulatory professionals in supporting this.

Andrey Piletsky

Manager of Spectrum Affairs, Sky and Space Global

During the last three years Andrey has been providing spectrum related consulting services to several new space startups. Following a strong sense of building something new and revolutionary, he recently joined SAS with the intention of joining a team bringing the advantages of small satellites into the commercial communications market. His work there includes bringing commercial grade small satellites into the focus of the ITU and national communication regulators. This work is inspired by the possibility of creating affordable communication services where they are most needed.
Andrey holds a B.Eng degree from the Tel-Aviv University. He started his career as a coordination engineer in the emerging spectrum team of AMOS-Spacecom where he participated in GSO Coordination meetings and ITU related work and conferences. Being an entrepreneur in spirit, Andrey is also a co-founder of a cryptocurrency related startup founded back in 2015.

Bethwel Ndung’u

Head of Radio Planning & Optimisation, Airtel

Bio to appear shortly.

Andrew Kisaka

Engineer , Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority

Andrew Johnson Kisaka holds a Master degree of Information Communication Technology (ICT) offered by Coventry University of United Kingdom in collaboration with Kigali Institute of Technology. He is also having a Post graduate diploma of Electronics and Information technology from University of Dar e salaam (UDSM).

He has been working in broadcasting sector for over two decades and started his career with Public Broadcaster (Radio Tanzania) from 1983 – 1999. In 1999 he Joined Tanzania Communications Commission (TCC) as a Senior Frequency Management Engineer and in 2003 worked with Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) after the merge of Tanzania Broadcasting Commission (TBC) and Tanzania Communication Commission.

From 2008 – 2010 Engineer Andrew Johnson Kisaka worked with Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authorities (RURA) as an expert and Consultant in spectrum management and the Director of ICT. From 2013 to 2014 Mr. Kisaka has been a Chairman of African Spectrum Working Group (AfriSWoG) and Registered as Professional Engineer by Engineer Registration Board of Tanzania.

Mr Kisaka is currently a Chairman of Working Group five of East African Communications Organisation (EACO) which deals with Spectrum Management and Vice Chair of ITU-R Study Group 6 dealing with Broadcasting services.

Amit Nagpal

Partner, Aetha Consulting

Amit Nagpal is a Partner at, and one of the co-founders of, Aetha Consulting. Amit has over 20 years of experience on spectrum management issues having started his career with the Radiocommunications Agency (now part of Ofcom) in the UK. Amit advises regulators/government bodies, fixed and mobile operators, broadcasters, financial institutions and industry associations on a wide range of issues including spectrum policy development and spectrum valuation and auction support. Amit’s experience includes leading studies for the European Commission on the introduction of spectrum trading and a harmonised approach to the digital dividend. Amit has undertaken projects for clients in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia and North America and is therefore able to bring a global perspective to his work. He recently supported a mobile operator in Colombia with its preparations for the AWS
spectrum auction.

Samer Mourad

Principal , Analysys Mason

Samer Mourad is a Principal at Analysys Mason. He has over 15 years' experience in the telecoms industry and has managed a range of consulting projects, covering strategic, technical, financial, regulatory and operational issues. His clients include operators, vendors, governments, regulators and financial institutions in more than 20 countries across Africa, Asia and Europe.

Samer has detailed knowledge of the mobile, fixed broadband and satellite sectors. He is highly skilled in spectrum valuation and auction strategy, business planning and business modelling, technology assessment, market and commercial due diligence, service costing and litigation support

Jean-Jacques Massima-Landji

Central Africa and Madagascar Representative, ITU

M. MASSIMA –LANDJI Jean-Jacques is a Senior Engineer in Telecommunications ,Electronics and Computer science graduated in Paris in 2003. He is actually ITU representative, for Central Africa and Madagascar resident in Yaoundé since 2009. As Senior Adviser to the Ministry of Communications and Telecommunications of GABON, he was posted in Geneva as the Permanent Representative of Gabon to ITU from 2004 to 2009. He spent before four years in ITU Headquarters in Geneva at the Telecommunications development Bureau (BDT) as Coordinator of Iraq Project, from 2000 to 2004 after a first international experience two years as Regional Director for Central Africa for ICO Global Communications, based in South Africa from 1998 to 2000.
He is a Director of Posts and Telecommunications in the Gabonese administration and has managed the Telecommunications of this country during more than 15 years. He was the first Chairman and set up in 2001 the Regulatory Body of Gabon : “Agence de Regulation des Telecommunications ”.
Mr MASSIMA is a recognized ICT senior expert worldwide and shows a proven experience of more than 30 years in the field of ICT. He was involved in the implementation of RASCOM as a continental expert and has chaired RASCOM Board of Directors in 1994 and 1995.
He has chaired several meetings in ITU World and regional Conferences and has been elected for the ongoing duties of Vice Chair of TDAG in WTDC06 and vice chair of TSAG in WTSA 08.
As senior expert Consultant of ATU, he used also to coordinate the African Common positions for several international meetings as the last WTDC 06 and the WTSA 08.
He started this long career in 1983 as specialized engineer in charge of data transmissions and also cumulatively lecturer in the National School of post and telecommunications and in the African Institute of Informatics (IAI) from 1984 to 1987 in Libreville Gabon.

Kezias Mwale

Radiocommunications Coordinator, African Telecommunications Union

He holds an MSc in Broadband and Mobile Communications with distinction from the University of Kent (2008). He started his spectrum management career as a junior engineer in 2003 at the Zambia ICT Authority, rising to manager spectrum management in 2010 – a position he held until his appointment by the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) as a Radiocommunications Coordinator in 2012. He has been a keen and active contributor to national, regional and international spectrum management successes including development of the first Zambian national spectrum plan, the SADC spectrum plan, the GE-06 Conference during which he was appointed one of the planning experts for Eastern and Southern Africa.

Bashir Gwandu

Chairman, Commonwealth ITU Group

Dr. Bashir Gwandu: The Chairman of Commonwealth ITU Group (CIG), was the Executive Commissioner (Technical Services) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), was also the Chairman of Radiocommunications Advisory Group of the ITU (the RAG), and the Vice Chairman of ITU-R Joint Task Group 4567 (JTG-4567). Gwandu has served as the Vice-Chair of Committee 4 of the ITU Radiocommunications Assembly 2012 (RA-12). He became the Chairman of the CIG in March 2012. He was the Acting CEO of the Nigerian Telecoms Regulatory body, the NCC, from June to July 2010. After receiving his BSc in Physics from UsmanDanfodiyo University, Sokoto and an MSc in Applied Physics from the University of Jos, in addition to a brief Engineering service at the Tactical Air-command, Makurdi and lecturing at UsmanDanfodiyo University, Sokoto, he proceeded to the United Kingdom where he attended MSc Courses in Power Electronics and Drives and MSc courses in Communications Engineering; he further obtained an MPhil degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, all from the University of Birmingham. He returned briefly to Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto to lecture before going back to the UK to study for a PhD in Electronic/Electrical Engineering at Aston University and subsequently undertook an MBA Finance course at the Birmingham Business School.

Dr Gwandu has designed many devices that are used in the telecom industry some of which have been patented in Europe and United States. He is a Chartered Electrical Engineer, and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering Technology (IET) in the UK, and has published over 40 Electronic and Electrical Engineering Research papers in world-class Electrical Engineering journals and conference proceedings. Since 2002, Dr Bashir Gwandu has been involved in research work on Regulation of Utilities.

Dr Gwandu was the Executive Commissioner for Engineering and Technical Standards at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); supervised all Directors/Staff concerned with National Spectrum planning, monitoring, and management, Quality of Service Monitoring and Network Optimization, Equipment Conformance Assessment and Interoperability testing -Type-approval, Numbering Plan, Allocation and Management. He was the Executive Commissioner in Charge of Licensing and Consumer Affairs of the NCC until June 2007. At Licensing, Gwandu supervised the Interconnect rate determination of Sept 2006 that led to improved competition thereby leading to significant reduction in telecom Tariff in Nigeria, the re-classification of Sales and Installation Licenses to Class-Category which has encouraged SMEs entry into the market, the issuance of all the 17 Unified- and hundreds of other Licenses in Nigeria that led to increased competition, the Liberalization of International Gateway for GSM operators that allows for carrying of 3rd Party Traffic thereby reducing tariff for International Calls, the elongation of Access Validity period beyond 90days for all networks on execution of every Revenue Generating Event which has cut down consumer loses and inconveniences, the introduction of Anti- Mobile Phone Theft Scheme in Nigeria to curtail phone theft, the introduction of Tariff Comparison Platform for Consumers so as to aid choice, the abolishing charges to Customer Care Lines, the Limiting of waiting times for answer on Customer Care Lines, the Management of Consumer Parliament, and Management of the Nigerian Internet Exchange project for the ICT Industry, the Improvement of Credit Control system of the NCC to ensure prompt payment of statutory fees by operators, the first ever in-depth NCC investigation into the State of the Quality of Service (QoS) of the Nigerian Telecom Networks. He also led the development of the first ever NCC QoS Regulation, and many other regulatory frameworks of the NCC. He was involved in NCC-based training of personnel from other partner regulatory bodies in different aspects of telecom regulation. Gwandu was part of a number of Nigerian Presidential/Ministerial think-tank committees including Vision-20-2020, Nigerian ICT RoadMap, Panel on University Research funding, and the Launch Committee of the recently Launched Nigerian Communications Satellite (NigComsat-1). He represented Nigeria, and sometimes ATU, at the ITU Conferences (such as WRC, WTSA, WSIS, and WTDC) and their preparatory meetings, he is a regular invited speaker at many International Telecom and Telecom Investment Conferences, and has represented Nigeria in many Forums on Telecoms Regulations, and was until recently on the Board of the NigComSat Ltd, and the Board of Digital Bridge Institute. Gwandu having skills in diverse areas of Engineering, Accounting, Finance, the Art of Regulation and Administration; the key competences required of a utility regulator, was on the Board of NCC

Internationally, Gwandu provided leadership and spoke for the African team on Agenda Item 1.4 of ITU WRC-2007, which was the turning point for Africa on ITU WRC matters. He also led the successful pursuit of the Allocation of 700MHz band to Region 1 during WRC 2012, played a major leadership role in delivering the African goals during the Johannesburg WTSA-08 and Dubai 2012 amongst many other achievements.