On attaining the mantle of leadership as chair of the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA), in March 2024, National Communications Authority (NatCA) Director- General Amara Brewah was in Abuja, Nigeria on 6th to 9th May 2024 to have his first WATRA Executive Committee Meeting.

This maiden Executive Committee meeting gave Chairman Brewah the opportunity to set the stage for him to deliver on the priorities set for digital transformation in the sub region and Sierra Leone in particular.

In this meeting, which took place at the WATRA Secretariat, several issues on the agenda included: handover of service to the in-coming chairman; overview of Executive Committee operations; inauguration of Adhoc working group on Starlink and other NGSO services; ECOWAS Roaming; Courtesy visit to the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Chairman Brewah expressed his pleasure to take up the mantle of leadership of WATRA and welcomed fellow Committee members to this my first ECM after a successful AGM in Freetown.

He continued to say that his main aim is to guide members to work alongside their plan in transforming WATRA to higher heights in the ICT regulatory environment in West Africa, in line with ITU and regional standards.

“Of course, we cannot afford to drag our feet towards these plans as digitalization is on the front burner globally and we in the West African sub-region cannot afford to be left behind,” DG Brewah said.

He continued to say that collaborating and working together as ICT Regulators “gives us an opportunity to discuss best practices, challenges and proffer solutions to the ever-changing dynamics of the emerging advancements in the telecommunications ecosystems.”

He added that an example of such active collaboration is on the emerging issue of Starlink and other Non-Geostationary satellite services and their contribution to broadband internet penetration.

An ad hoc committee set up by WATRA would actively collaborate on this and other issues for the good of all regional regulators and the citizens of West Africa.