The Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Ghana, Patricia Obo-Nai has been named as the Chairperson of the Governing Council of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications for the fiscal year 2022/2023.
This makes it the second year in a row that the celebrated CEO will lead the Governing Council of the Chamber after serving in that capacity in the 2021/2022 fiscal year.
Selorm Adadevoh, CEO of MTN Ghana was also re-elected as the Vice-Chairperson of the council.
The decisions were taken at the 11th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Chamber which was organized at the beginning of this month.
The renewal of the terms of the two CEOs comes at a time when the telecommunications industry is faced with numerous challenges including but not limited to, theft of active infrastructure, vandalism at cell sites, destruction to fiber optic cables, increased taxation and the likelihood of incoming taxation of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), increased regulatory fees and the likelihood of the introduction of new fees, challenges associated with the implementation of the E-Levy and the SIM Registration exercise, as well as cybersecurity challenges among others.
In her address to the participants of the AGM, Mrs. Obo-Nai stressed on the need for increased collaboration amongst members of the Chamber to deal with the challenges ahead to ensure the industry grows in a sustainable manner.
“It’s been a difficult time under the current macroeconomic challenges and a lot of value has been eroded but we’ve all been able to stand strong. The times ahead of us aren’t going to be easy and it is important we all bind together and work collectively to surmount our challenges.”
She also raised concern over the taxation of the industry as well as the pricing of spectrum in a foreign currency. On the latter, she called on members to fight together and work with the regulator to ensure the issue is resolved.
On the issue of access to spectrum, Mrs. Obo-Nai described the phenomena as a big issue that needed to be dealt with in the coming year. She also spoke of the need to work closely with government and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) so that the Tower companies do not feel they are in competition with government but rather in a partnership to foster the rollout of needed infrastructure across the country.
Supporting women in STEAM
The Chairperson went on to highlight the need for steps to be taken by members of the Chamber to increase support for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) in the country, in order to ensure the resource base of the industry is enhanced going forward.
She mentioned that a major initiative that will help close the gender gap in the area of STEAM is being worked on and will be launched soon.
“We have been doing a lot on ICT, fraud, mobile money and the likes, but there’s one area I believe cuts across and will help the future of our industry. It’s about how we support STEM, how we support mathematics and science to feed into the resource structure of our industry. There will be a launch of an initiative to practically support the space and I really ask your support on this. It will be a mark for this industry, and it only requires our commitment.”
The AGM saw the participants receive and adopt the Financial Statement of the Chamber for the year 2021.
Members also authorized the Governing Council to fix the remuneration of the external auditors for the ensuing year.
A special resolution on the need to have CEO’s who leave their respective jobs to sign their resignations from the board was also looked at and accepted.
Current members of the Governing Council
While Patricia Obo-Nai and Selorm Adadevoh serve as Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson on the governing council of the Chamber, CEO of AirtelTigo Leo Skarlatos, CEO of ATC Ghana Yahaya Yunusa, MD for Helios Towers Ghana Fritz Dzeklo, West Africa Regional Manager for CSquared Estelle Akofio-Sowah, CEO at ComSys Ghana Jonathan Lamptey, MD for Huawei Ghana Tommy Liang, the Country Manager of Ericsson Ghana Richard Arthur and CEO of the Telecoms Chamber Kenneth E. Ashigbey, make up the rest of the governing council, who are the Board Members of the Chamber, which is a company limited by guarantee.
About Governing Council of the Telecommunications Chamber
The Governing Council (G.C.) is the board of directors for the Chamber. It compromises the Heads of all the member organizations and their alternates together with the Chamber’s CEO.
The G.C., which is currently chaired by the CEO of Vodafone (Mrs. Patricia Obo-Nai) sits bi-monthly.
The Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Ghana, Patricia Obo-Nai has been named as the Chairperson of the Governing Council of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications for the fiscal year 2022/2023.
This makes it the second year in a row that the celebrated CEO will lead the Governing Council of the Chamber after serving in that capacity in the 2021/2022 fiscal year.
Selorm Adadevoh, CEO of MTN Ghana was also re-elected as the Vice-Chairperson of the council.
The decisions were taken at the 11th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Chamber which was organized at the beginning of this month.
The renewal of the terms of the two CEOs comes at a time when the telecommunications industry is faced with numerous challenges including but not limited to, theft of active infrastructure, vandalism at cell sites, destruction to fibre optic cables, increased taxation and the likelihood of incoming taxation of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), increased regulatory fees and the likelihood of the introduction of new fees, challenges associated with the implementation of the E-Levy and the SIM Registration exercise, as well as cybersecurity challenges among others.
In her address to the participants of the AGM, Mrs. Obo-Nai stressed on the need for increased collaboration amongst members of the Chamber to deal with the challenges ahead to ensure the industry grows in a sustainable manner.
“It’s been a difficult time under the current macroeconomic challenges and a lot of value has been eroded but we’ve all been able to stand strong. The times ahead of us aren’t going to be easy and it is important we all bind together and work collectively to surmount our challenges.”
She also raised concern over the taxation of the industry as well as the pricing of spectrum in a foreign currency. On the latter, she called on members to fight together and work with the regulator to ensure the issue is resolved.
On the issue of access to spectrum, Mrs. Obo-Nai described the phenomena as a big issue that needed to be dealt with in the coming year. She also spoke of the need to work closely with government and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) so that the Tower companies do not feel they are in competition with government but rather in a partnership to foster the rollout of needed infrastructure across the country.
Supporting women in STEAM
The Chairperson went on to highlight the need for steps to be taken by members of the Chamber to increase support for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) in the country, in order to ensure the resource base of the industry is enhanced going forward.
She mentioned that a major initiative that will help close the gender gap in the area of STEAM is being worked on and will be launched soon.
“We have been doing a lot on ICT, fraud, mobile money and the likes, but there’s one area I believe cuts across and will help the future of our industry. It’s about how we support STEM, how we support mathematics and science to feed into the resource structure of our industry. There will be a launch of an initiative to practically support the space and I really ask your support on this. It will be a mark for this industry, and it only requires our commitment.”
The AGM saw the participants receive and adopt the Financial Statement of the Chamber for the year 2021.
Members also authorized the Governing Council to fix the remuneration of the external auditors for the ensuing year.
A special resolution on the need to have CEO’s who leave their respective jobs to sign their resignations from the board was also looked at and accepted.
Current members of the Governing Council
While Patricia Obo-Nai and Selorm Adadevoh serve as Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson on the governing council of the Chamber, CEO of AirtelTigo Leo Skarlatos, CEO of ATC Ghana Yahaya Yunusa, MD for Helios Towers Ghana Fritz Dzeklo, West Africa Regional Manager for CSquared Estelle Akofio-Sowah, CEO at ComSys Ghana Jonathan Lamptey, MD for Huawei Ghana Tommy Liang, the Country Manager of Ericsson Ghana Richard Arthur and CEO of the Telecoms Chamber Kenneth E. Ashigbey, make up the rest of the governing council, who are the Board Members of the Chamber, which is a company limited by guarantee.
Source: Chamber News Desk
