 Ifeloju Alakija
Head, Regulatory Services, Main One Cable Company, (MainOne)
Ifeloju Alakija is the Head, Regulatory Services at Main One Cable Company (“MainOne”), a leading provider of innovative telecom services and network solutions for businesses in West Africa. He is primarily responsible for the company’s regulatory operations & compliance in Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire & Portugal. Prior to joining MainOne, he served as the Legal & Regulator Manager for IS Internet Solution Nigeria, a subsidiary of the Dimension Data Group. He is a collaborative and versatile lawyer of over 14 years’ experience garnered from both the Banking industry and the Information & Communication Technology industry. His expertise ranges from Regulatory Compliance & Operations to Negotiation & Transaction Documentation, Contract Management & Administration, Legal Advisory, Company Secretarial Administration, Corporate Governance, Risk Management, Intellectual Property Management, and Corporate Strategy. He is currently the first serving President of the Association of Submarine Cable Protection Association of Nigeria (ASCON). He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administration of Nigeria, as well as the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators of Nigeria.”
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 Soumaya Benbartaoui
Electronic Certification Director – ITU-T SG13 RG-AFR Vice-chair
After graduating as engineer of computer science from University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene, Soumaya joined Regulatory Authority of Post and Electronic Communication in 2009, where she currently work as Electronic Certification Director. In 2010, she started working with ITU-T (SG13 and SG17) and since 2013, she work as ITU-T SG13 Regional Group of Africa Vice-chair. In 2012, Soumaya was selected to participate in Techwomen program (initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs) where she worked with several tech company at Silicon Valley. Soumaya did several contributions and presentations about Cloud Computing and standardizations of this technology.
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 Guda Blessed
Student, Department Of Computer Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Minna
Guda Blessed is a first class, final year student of the Department Of Computer Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Minna. I have been working with the ITU Focus Group on ML for 5G since early 2019. I have research interests in AI and Embedded Systems. I won the best project at the project exhibition during the 2nd International IEEE conference at Ahmadu Bello University of Zaria for building “Zazzau personal assistant Robot”. |
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Simon Bugaba
Chairman ITU-T SG 13 RG AFR and Co-Rapporteur Q.5/13
Bugaba Simon is currently working with the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) as the Head of Regional Operations. He holds a BSc Physics and Math, MBA and MIT. Mr. Bugaba is an expert in licensing and ICT regulation. He has participated in the ITU activities since 1995. He has been active in the Radio, Standardization and Development Bureaus. He represents Africa to the ITU Council Oversight Committee on the new ITU Building (MSAG). He was the ITU Council Councilor for Uganda in the Council of 2014-2018 and he is the GAC for Uganda in ICANN. He served as a Vice Chairman of ITU-T SG 13 for two terms from 2008. Study Group 13 elected Mr. Bugaba to serve as the Question 5/13 Co Rapporteur.
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 Rim Belhassine-Cherif
Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer, Tunisie Telecom Tunisia & SG13 Vice-Chair
Dr. Rim Belhassine-Cherif is a general engineer. She has worked for the incumbent telecom operator in Tunisia “Tunisie Télécom” since 1994 and she is currently the Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer and the responsible of digital transformation at Tunisie Télécom. Dr.Belhassine-Cherif has participated to several ITU conferences, seminars and workshops and she is a vice-chair of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) and the current Rapporteur on Standardization Strategy. She is also vice-chair of ITU-T Study Group 13 and its Regional Group for Africa (SG13RG-AFR), Vice-chair of WP3/13 and Vocabulary Rapporteur for the ITU Standardization Committee for Vocabulary (SCV). Moreover, she was a vice-chair of the ITU-T Focus Group on Bridging the Gap: from Innovation to Standards between 2013 and 2015. Besides, Dr. Belhassine-Cherif has several contributions as Tunisie Télécom’s delegate in national and international events, related to both professional and academic fields, in which she participated as a speaker, panelist and moderator. Dr. Belhassine-Cherif graduated from the Higher School of Posts and Telecommunications of Tunis in 1994. She obtained her Ph.D. degree from the National Engineering School of Tunis in 2002 and obtained in 2010 an Executive MBA from Paris-Dauphine University and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. In the academic field, she performed several research activities in the domain of telecommunications and electrical engineering and she is the author of many papers published in international and national conferences and scientific journals. |
 Marco Carugi
Consultant on advanced ICTs and associated standardization, Huawei Research Contractor
Mentor of ITU-T SG20 and ITU-T SG13, Q2/20 Rapporteur and Q20/13 Associate Rapporteur
Technical areas of current involvement include Future Networks incl. IMT-2020/5G and Network 2030, Internet of Things/M2M, Big Data and ML/AI. He has professional experience in R&D and technology strategy, and he has worked in different market roles in Solvay group, Orange Labs, Nortel Networks CTO division and ZTE R&D Technology Strategy. Marco is active in standardization since long time, leading standards specifications in different domains (NGN, IoT/M2M, Big Data, IMT2020) and holding leadership positions. In the current 2017-2020 ITU-T study period, among other tasks, he is Champion of the Use Case Analysis and Requirements deliverable within the Focus Group on Data Processing and Management to support IoT and Smart Cities and Communities, as well as Editor of the Use Cases and Requirements deliverable within the ITU-T Focus Group on Technologies for Network 2030. During 2018 he has acted as Rapporteur for the European Commission in the joint MSP/DEI WG on Standardisation in support of Digitising European Industry and Editor of the Final Report of the WG (Dec 2018). He holds an Electronic Engineering degree in Telecommunications from University of Pisa (Pisa, Italy), a M.S. in Engineering and Management of Telecommunication Networks from National Institute of Telecommunications (Evry, France) and a Master in International Business Development from ESSEC Business School (Paris, France). He has also completed an Executive Program on Big Data Science at Ecole Centrale (Paris, France). |
Umar Garba Danbatta
Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Office (EVC/CEO), Nigerian Communications Commission
Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta is the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Office (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission.He earned BEng, MSc degrees from the Technical University of Wroclaw in Poland and received his PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.He had also served on over 20 committees, and chaired the Implementation Panel of Kano State University of Science & Technology before eventually becoming the institute’s pioneer Acting Vice-Chancellor.Prof Danbatta has supervised more than 60 PhD, MEng and BEng projects in diverse areas of telecommunications and has also served as external examiner to seven universities and polytechnics and is an assessor, technical reviewer and editorial member to eight research journals. He has to his credit more than 60 articles in journals, conference proceedings and technical reports. He is also the author of a six-chapter, 167-page book titled Elements of Static Engineering Electromagnetics.Since his appointment as the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)) in August 2015, Prof Danbatta has tremendously transformed the Telecom Sector in the areas of Staff Welfare, Infrastructural Development, Consumer Empowerment and Satisfaction, Job Creation, Standard Information and Communication Technology Revolution, Research, Rebranding of the Telecom Sector, Cordial Relationship with Stakeholders, Increase in Active Mobile Broadband Penetration, Efficient Monitoring and Value Driven usage for the provision of Different Types of Services, attracting multiple awards and recognition both local and internationally. |
 Seyni Malan Fati
Senior Policy Manager, West Africa, GSMA
Seyni Malan Fati is a Senior Policy Manager on the Sub-Saharan Africa Policy Team. He took over this position in September 2019, bringing with him over 14-year rich ICT Regulation experience. Seyni is based in Dakar and responsible for GSMA’s advocacy programs and supporting members in policy and regulatory matters in West Africa. Before joining GSMA Seyni was the Head of Projects at the Smart Africa Secretariat in Kigali, Rwanda. He was mainly leading the implementation of One Africa Network project and the Free Roaming initiatives between Smart Africa members countries. Before joining Smart Africa, Seyni was the Director of Economics and Telecom Markets at the Regulatory Authority of Telecommunications and Posts (ARTP) of Senegal, from 2015 to end of 2017. He has led and participated in several projects and studies such as the development of the strategy of the Universal Telecommunication Service of Senegal, the audit of the costs of licensed operators, the implementation of unbundling the local loop, the approval of interconnection catalogs of the powerful designated operators, the implementation of number portability, the operators QoS measurement campaigns and the identification of subscribers in Senegal. In 2017, Seyni was one of the focal point for the West Africa Free Roaming One Area implementation. He has been actively involved since 2005 in ITU-RGS3-AFR and is currently Vice-Chairman of ITU-T Study Group 12 about QoS.He is also Chairman of the African regional group of the Study Group 12.
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| Charles Arizechukwu Igwe
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria
Professor Charles Arizechukwu Igwe is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, holds a PhD, M.Sc. and B Agric degrees in Soil Science from University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Postgraduate Diploma in Soil Science from Agricultural University, Norway. Head of Department; Associate Dean of Faculty; Dean of Faculty and Directors of Centres at various times, Visiting Researcher/Professor in Universities located in Germany, Japan, Norway, Italy and France, member, University Governing Council and supervised Undergraduates, Masters and many PhD students, External Examiner and Professorial Assessor in many Nigerian and European Universities.
His research focuses on the contributions of organic and mineral colloids in stability of tropical soils, and “Carbon sequestration in tropical soils”, to unravel inherent soil factors influencing erodibility (K) factor of erosion models, published some pioneering works on soil colloidal-dispersion, author/co-author of many peer-reviewed articles in reputable Journals of Soil/Environmental Sciences. A NORAD Fellow; Fellow of Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Germany; Regular Associate, International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy; Fellow, Japanese Society for Promotion of Science; Winner, University of Nigeria Vice-Chancellor’s Faculty and University Prizes 1992/93; Listed in Marquis Who’s Who in Science and Engineering; participant in German DAAD/DIES Deans Course 2009, attracted scientific equipment donations to the University from AvH in 2001 and 2010, a two times recipient of Research Grant from Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS)..
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Elliot Nketani Kabalo
Manager Standards & Network, Zicta, Zambia, & Co-rapporteur of Q5/13
Elliot Nketani Kabalo is the co-rapporteur of Q5/13. Work in this question relates to applying networks of future and innovation in developing countries. Holder of a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from the University of Zambia, Elliot works for the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) as Manager Standards and Networks. He also worked for the Zambia Telecommunications Limited (ZAMTEL) for 10 years where he was responsible for planning of the PSTN and PLMN core networks. Elliot managed a lot of projects involving installations and interconnections of core networks. He earlier worked for the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) where he was responsible for design, installation and maintenance of the computer network infrastructure. Elliot’s career goal is to acquire extensive knowledge in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and achieve a high level of competence to enable him make a positive contribution in making ICTs accessible by the majority of humanity. |
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Isaac Kobina Kwarko
National Communications Authority (NCA)
Mr Isaac Kobina Kwarko, PMP, is a Computer Scientist with specialization in data communications and distributed systems. With over 17 years of experience in ICT infrastructure development, IT project management, ICT regulations, data management and Internet of Things. Mr Kwarko is currently the Head of Fixed Services Unit of the Engineering Division of the National Communications Authority of Ghana where he oversees the spectrum management and frequency planning for fixed services. Prior to being appointed the Head of Fixed Services, he was the Zonal Manager overseeing the operations of the National Communications Authority in the Western and Central Regions of Ghana. He also served in various Information Technology roles of the Authority leading in many of the ICT infrastructure projects. |
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 Isaac Laryea
Deputy Manager, Regulatory Administration Division, National Communications Authority, Ghana
Isaac Laryea is a Deputy Manager of the Regulatory Administration Division at the National Communications Authority, Ghana. He has over twelve (12) years’ experience in the Telecom industry (3years as telecom operator and 10 years as regulator). His focus is mainly on Quality of Service and Network Evolutions. He completed his postgraduate education in Mobile Communications Systems at the University of Surrey, UK and his Engineering Degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering at the All Nations University College in Ghana. He has contributed immensely to ITU activities especially SG12 and was a former vice chair of the SG12 Regional Group for Africa. |
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 Gyu Myoung Lee
Chair, ITUT FG-DPM, Senior Lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU)
Gyu Myoung Lee received his BS degree from Hong Ik University, Seoul, Korea, in 1999 and his MS and PhD degrees from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Korea, in 2000 and 2007. He is with the Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), UK, as a Senior Lecturer from 2014 and with KAIST Institute for IT convergence, Korea, as an adjunct professor from 2012. Prior to joining the LJMU, he has worked with the Institut Mines-Telecom, Telecom SudParis, France, from 2008. Until 2012, he had been invited to work with the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Korea. He also worked as a research professor in KAIST, Korea and as a guest researcher in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), USA, in 2007. His research interests include Internet of things, future networks, multimedia services, and energy saving technologies including smart grids. He has been actively working for standardization in ITU-T, IETF and oneM2M, etc., and currently serves as a WP chair in SG13, a Rapporteur of Q16/13 and Q4/20 as well as an Editor in ITU-T. He is a Senior Member of IEEE. |
 Nicholas Muzhuzha
Head Technical Services Postal & Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Zimbabwe (POTRAZ)
Engineer Muzhuzha is married and father of 2 teenagers. He is the Head Technical Services at POTRAZ. He has been a Telecommunication Engineer for 25 years (15 years telecommunication regulation, 2 years telecommunication equipment manufacturer, 9 years incumbent telecommunication operator). |
 Edoyemi Ogoh
Vice-Chairman, SG12 & Deputy Director, Technical Standards Network Integrity, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)
Engr. Edoyemi Ogoh is a Deputy Director Technical Standards and Network Integrity and Head of Interconnect and Network Monitoring / QoS at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). He is currently responsible for Interconnect and network monitoring and Quality of Service management of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria across all technologies. He was responsible at different times for spectrum assignment and assessing different technical regulatory frameworks at NCC. Edoyemi is a Vice Chairman of Study Group 12.
Prior to joining NCC he worked for different telecommunications operators in Nigeria including Mobitel, MTN and Airtel before joining NCC in 2012. He led several engineering teams in these operators where he was at various times responsible for network planning, implementation, project support, operations and network operations support across several network domains. In his last role in the operator environment, Edoyemi was the Head of Department Network Planning at Airtel where he was responsible for the end to end planning of the network from the switching, transmission, IP/MPLS, IN/VAS, and Radio networks across the 2G & 3G network domains.
He has a Bachelor of Engineering degree from University of Benin. He earned his MBA from the University of Warwick, UK and GMP from Wits Business School, South Africa. He has about 22 years experience in the telecommunications industry. |
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 Peter Ogundele
Director, LMN, Ericsson
A dynamic individual with proven career in Telecommunication and Possessing excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to relate to a wide range of people and subjects with over Eighteen (18) Years’ Experience cut across most areas of information and Communication Technology. I have been saddled during my career with analyzing and proffering practical Business Solutions to solve real life scenarios problems in the ICT Industry. I have also been involved in Product Development with Strategic Business Development at Oracle Integrated Services and Airtel Nigeria formerly known as Zain and Celtel prior to Joining Ericsson. I have horned skills in negotiation, budgeting, and forecasting with in-depth well-grounded technical knowledge gained from leading, managing and deploying key Telecommunication Deals and Projects across Africa. In current role as Head Government and Industry Relationship and LMN Director Public Affairs I serve as the critical link between the Government and Industry with Ericsson. I actively and proactively Manage relationships with Senior government officials at the Highest level and stakeholders across multiple industries including Telecommunication, Finance, Regulators, Power, Health Sector and None and ICT/Telecom Players. |
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 Abayomi Olurishe
Senior Technical Solutions Expert, Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited
Mr Abayomi Olurishe is a certified project Manager, member of the PMI and an Alumni of Ahmadu Bello University. He holds various certifications in ITIL and other best practices in the ICT and Telecoms sector and is also a certified Sales professional. Having Obtained a Bachelor in Engineering (B.Eng.) degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering from the Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria , Abayomi Olurishe has built a technology based career over the past 17 years and served as CTO of several indigenous Telecom operators in Nigeria. He is also a certified member of the Global Solutions Elite Team (GSET) of Huawei Technologies. Having served in several capacities, Abayomi has broad experience in ICT/Telecoms and their applications in the vertical industries including public security, smart city initiatives, IOT adoption and digital transformation. Mr Abayomi is an accomplished professional with demonstrated career success developing and executing operational strategies to promote organisation growth and optimal utilisation of emerging technologies. He possesses extensive experience leading operations for technology, business development and application development within diverse range of industries and for government entities with full P & L responsibility. |
Fidelis Ikechukwu Onah
Vice Chairman, SG13 and Co-Chairman of Working Party 2 of SG13
Engineer Dr. Fidelis Ikechukwu Onah attended the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu where he obtained an Ordinary National Diploma in Electrical/Electronic Engineering in 1978. In 1979, he secured a scholarship from Federal Government of Nigeria to the Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) to study Electronics following which he bagged both a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees with First Class Honours in 1985. In February 2017, he successfully defended his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Electronic Engineering at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Dr Onah worked with the Nigerian Television Authority Lagos briefly before moving to Data Sciences Nigeria Limited, where he worked as a Computer and Data Communications Engineer, till the end of 2002 rising to the rank of Assistant Director, before joining the Nigerian Communications Commission. He served the Commission in various capacities, in the Spectrum Administration Department heading the Spectrum Planning and Licensing Unit and later headed the Spectrum Monitoring, Coordination and Interference Resolution Unit. He was seconded to the Universal Service Provision Secretariat as member of pioneer staff heading the Technical Unit, participating in drafting all the take-off Policies and Implementation Plans for the USPF. He also served as Special Assistant, Technical, to the Honourable Minister of State for Information and Communications. In 2014, he was posted to head the Human Capital and Infrastructure Group. He was promoted to the Director of Human Capital and Infrastructure Group and Special Projects and later re-deployed as the Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity in 2015, a position he held until his retirement from active service in February 2018. He represented the Commission in several Committees both within and outside the Country. He is active in the ITU-T is a Vice Chairman of ITU-T Study Group 13 and Co-Chairman of Working Party 2 of SG13. He has participated actively as a Nigerian delegate to the World Radio Conferences of 2007, 2012, 2015, and headed Ad-Hoc Group 6B4 at WRC 2015. He was elected as Vice Chairman of ITU-R Study Group 5D in the WRC 2015. Engr Onah is a member of the Institute of Electrical Electronic Engineering IEEE, and the Nigerian Society of Engineers. An Academician per excellence, researched in several topics of the Electronics Engineering and he published several technical books, delivered several technical papers in Conferences and participated in many workshops. He is presently the CEO of FIGROM Technologies. |
 Oluwasayo Oshadami
Head of Technical Solutions and Managed Networks, MainOne
Oluwasayo Oshadami is a talented and seasoned technology professional with over a decade experience in Network, Data Center, Submarine Cable and Cloud Infrastructure Design, and Program Management. He obtained a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Federal University of Technology Minna. Oluwasayo is a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and holds a mini-MBA from Telecoms Academy in addition to several executive and leadership courses within and outside Nigeria. He has vast experience in West African telecoms operations and global interconnections with a strong understanding of various markets in West Africa and Europe. Oluwasayo brings with him, a wealth of hands-on expertise in infrastructure design and implementation, and has overseen numerous large-scale network designs and implementation instrumental to the growth of the MainOne brand in West Africa. Currently, Oluwasayo is the Head of Technical Solutions and Managed Networks at MainOne. He has established himself as a Solution Transformation Leader in the organization and plays an active role in the development of new solution initiatives for MainOne. Prior to joining MainOne, he worked at Galaxy backbone Plc, Abuja. |
Ifeanyi Otudoh
MTN
Within MTN Nigeria, Ifeanyi Otudoh is responsible for complex Technology Infrastructure Design and Implementation. Mr. Ifeanyi is a senior IT Infrastructure services professional with over 12 years of experience in ICT, working for global financial institutions, media broadcasters and multinational mobile telco provider. He has been involved with designing IP based video transport platforms to support digital media productions for Tier 1 broadcasters across Africa and Middle East. His educational background includes a B.Sc. in Computer Science from Babcock University, Ogun State, Nigeria. He holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Business and Information Systems from the University of Hertfordshire, UK and a Certificate in Crisis Management and Business Continuity from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston, USA. |
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Vishnu Ram
Independent Researcher
Vishnu worked for Motorola/Nokia/Siemens in advanced technologies teams for 21 years. He was a Scientific Advisory Board Associate (SABA) member of Motorola Networks. He has published several drafts in IETF, contributed to ETSI, 3GPP in his role as a senior specialist (Radio Resource Management). He holds 12 International Granted Patents (and several pending applications) and have several publications. He is currently working as an Independent Researcher. |
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 Abdullahi Sani Shuaibu
Student, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria
Abdullahi Sani Shuaibu is currently a student at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria. where he is pursuing a degree in Computer Engineering. He is an experienced computer programmer with skills in Machine Learning, Website Development and Mobile Application development. He has also received certifications from networking academies such as CISCO and HUAWEI. He hopes to own an IT company in the near future. |
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