ITU

Committed to connecting the world

BDT Director’s Corner

Mr. Brahima Sanou was elected Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau by the Plenipotentiary Conference in October 2010 in Guadalajara, Mexico and took office on 1 January 2011.
Mr. Sanou has more than thirty years’ experience in the telecommunication and ICT sector,  including 10 years as Head of  the ITU Regional Office for Africa. Prior to working for the ITU, Mr. Sanou held several high-level positions in Burkina Faso’s telecommunications administration.
A fully trained telecommunication engineer, Mr. Sanou holds an Engineering degree from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (ENST) in Paris and a post-graduate diploma from the Centre for Financial, Economic and Banking Studies in Paris.
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Recent Activities

Guatemala  11 March 2013
The Director's official mission to Guatemala.
​The Director meets Juan Carlos Paiz,  Presidential Commissioner for Competitiveness and Investment and Eddy Padilla Superintendent of Telecommunications during an official mission to Guatemala.
Latin America  07 November 2012
Director meets Ministers and Regulators in Latin America

5 November Mr. Sanou met the Minister of Public Works of Paraguay, the President and Board of Directors of CONATEL, as well as the Authorities of Universidad Nacional de Asunción (UNA). ITU and CONATEL will be cooperating in the implementation of projects relating to tariffs and regulatory accountancy. UNA, node of the AMS Center of Excellence network, is set to become an ITU-D Academia Sector Member.

Colombo, Sri Lanka  02 October 2012
Statement at Opening Press Conference GSR2012
​ITU, and particularly my own Bureau, the Telecommunication Development Bureau, does a lot of work behind the scenes to promote global ICT development, through a wide range of expert reports, through on-the-ground projects, and through assistance to our Member States and industry partners.

The Global Symposium for Regulators is one of our more visible activities, and, to my mind, one of our most important.

Tunisia  19 September 2012
Opening remarks at ICT4all Forum
​It is a great honour to be here with you this morning and to speak on behalf of the ITU’s Secretary-General, Dr Touré, who unfortunately cannot be with us today.

Tunisia has a unique role and significance in the WSIS Process. Indeed, it was Tunisia that first proposed having a WSIS summit and which has hosted the Summit’s second phase. This has brought the Tunis Commitment and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society.
Panama City, Panama  19 July 2012
Closing address at Connect Americas Summit

This has been an extraordinary summit, bringing together 654 participants from 36 countries, including 7 Heads of State or Government, 12 Ministers, 48 international and regional organizations and 158 private sector companies and other stakeholders.

Thanks to our host country who has not spared any effort to make us feel at home, this Summit has enjoyed a truly warm, positive spirit of friendship and commitment. While I know that Dr. Touré, the Secretary-General of ITU, will do it on all our behalf, I cannot continue without saying Thank you Panama.