About AfICTA

The Africa Information and Communication Technologies Alliance (AfICTA) Advisory Council (AAC) following its inaugural "Meet and Greet" Conference Call of Tuesday, 7 December 2021 and subsequent deliberations and in line with Section 6.13 of the AfICTA Constitution hereby provides the following preliminary Advisory to the AfICTA Board

The Advisory Council:

1. Appreciates the Board of Directors under the leadership of the Chairman, Mr. Thabo Mashegoane, his deputy Mr. Paul Rowney, the Vice-Chairmen, and the Secretariat for effectively steering the ship of the Alliance.
2. Appreciates all members of AfICTA especially those in good standing for providing the required support for the growth of AfICTA over the years. Notable for mention are Kontemporary Konsulting Ltd, the Institute of IT Professionals of South Africa (IITPSA), the Egyptian Information Technology, Electronics & Software Alliance (EITESAL), the Computer Society of Kenya (CSK), the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), the Egyptian Government through the Ministry of ICT and the Nigerian Government through the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy among many others.
3. Appreciates all partners for their continuous collaboration towards the realization of mutual objectives. Notable for mention is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Business Constituency.
4. Considers AfICTA's vision, mission and objectives to still be relevant even in the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR); and thus advises
5. the Board of Directors and the Secretariats to evolve strategies for AfICTA to reach stakeholders in the remaining 21 African countries for a whole African ICTs synergy for development by the year 2030 wherein no one is left behind.

Signed on behalf of AAC,

Dr. Jimson Olufuye                               Engr. Atef Helmy

Chairman, AAC                                    Vice-Chairman, AAC

The Africa Information and Communication Technologies Alliance (AfICTA) Advisory Council (AAC) had its second virtual meeting on Thursday 12 May 2022. The AAC issued the following advisories afterward in line with the Section 6.13 of the AfICTA Constitution.

The Advisory Council:

1. Appreciates the Board of Directors under the leadership of the Chairman, Mr. Thabo Mashegoane, his deputy,Mr. Paul Rowney, the Vice-Chairmen, and the Secretariat for the efforts channeled to achieving the advisory issued after the Advisory Council’s inaugural meeting.
2. Appreciates all members of AfICTA especially those in good-standing for providing the required support for the growth of AfICTA over the years. Notable for mention are Kontemporary Konsulting Ltd, the Institute of IT Professionals of South Africa (IITPSA), the Egyptian Information Technology, Electronics & Software Alliance (EITESAL), the Computer Society of Kenya (CSK), the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), the Egyptian Government through the Ministry of ICT and the Nigerian Government through the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy among many others.
3. Appreciates all partners for their continuous collaboration towards the realization of mutual objectives. Notable for mention is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Business Constituency.
4. Considers AfICTA's brand and name “Africa Information and Communication TechnologyAlliance” is till relevant and could remain unchanged for the time being and that the board AfICTA further build the brand and put in place further frameworks that could attract sponsors, partners and donors toward a more sustained AfICTA.

and thus advises that:

1. All AfICTA Award winners be brought together under one roof as a way to foster synergy of ideas for the greatest impact for the African people. The group would also be another pool of knowledge from which AfICTA could draw.
2. The board strategizeson the promotion of prompt business partnerships between members and their National Associations’ Members in order to leverage successes that have been achieved in theirdifferent countries.
3. More efforts be channeled into sustaining the values of the Africa Knowledge Hub

Signed on behalf of AAC,

Dr. Jimson Olufuye                               Engr. Atef Helmy

Chairman, AAC                                    Vice-Chairman, AAC

Introduction

The Africa Information and Communication Technologies Alliance (AfICTA) Advisory Council (AAC) had its fourth virtual meeting on Tuesday 14 November 2023. The AAC issued the following advisories afterward in line with Section 6.13 of the AfICTA Constitution. 

The Advisory Council:

1. Appreciates the Board of Directors under the leadership of the Chair, Thabo Mashegoane and Deputy Chair, Mr. Paul Rowney and all the Vice Chairs and the Secretariat for the efforts channeled to achieving the previous advisories issued.
2. Appreciates all members of AfICTA especially those in good-standing for providing the required support for the growth of AfICTA over the years. Notable for mention are Kontemporary Konsulting Ltd, the Institute of IT Professionals of South Africa (IITPSA), the Egyptian Information Technology, Electronics & Software Alliance (EITESAL), the Computer Society of Kenya (CSK), Main One, Afenoid Enterprise Ltd, Kenya Wildlife Services, Digisphere Ltd, D.A.P.T, Diamond Security Consultancy, among many others. 
3. Appreciates all partners for their continuous collaboration towards the realization of mutual objectives. Notable for mention are the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)/ Business Constituency, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Union (AU), the Egyptian Government through the Ministry of ICT and the Nigerian Government through the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, NITDA-National IT Development Agency and NCC- Nigeria Communication Commission, and Galaxy Backbone Ltd, among many others.

The Advisory Council deliberated on the possibility of gaining from the wealth of knowledge of its distinguished ICT Champions that cut across all the award categories in AfICTA.

The Advisories

AAC thus advises that: 

1. There should be established a fellowship of ICT Champions cutting across all the AfICTA award categories which would meet from time to time to deliberate on strategies to move Africa's digital ecosystem forward.
2. AfICTA appoints for a 2 terms, 2 Coordinators of the Fellowship who would be selected from the Northern and Southern parts of Africa with the recommendation of at least one being a French speaker to fast-track the engagement of french speaking stakeholders in Africa.
3. AfICTA considers the adoption of the suffix fAfICTA, fellow of Africa ICT Alliance as suffix for the Champions
4. A list of beneficiaries may be kept and updated regularly on the AfICTA website
5. Capacity Development Professional workshops be organised in tandem with AfICTA summits and in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

Signed on behalf of AAC,

Dr. Jimson Olufuye                 Engr. Atef Helmy

Chairman, AAC                                     Vice-Chairman, AAC

Following a comprehensive review of past advisories during the 6th Advisory Council Meeting, the AAC issues the following updated advisories for 2024 as follows.

1. Implementation Oversight: The Board of Directors of the Alliance to form a dedicated committee to monitor and drive the execution of all pending advisories
2. Multilingual Support: Enhance the AfICTA website and communication channels to support non-English-speaking members effectively. 
3. Strengthening Partnerships: The Board of AfICTA should deepen collaboration with international donors such as the World Bank and the EU for funding and mutual projects. 
4. Hybrid Summit Planning: The Board of Directors AfICTA should finalize plans for the 2025 hybrid summit, ensuring a blend of physical and virtual participation with robust sponsorship strategies. 
5. Progress Tracking: Establish enhanced reporting mechanisms to track the implementation of advisories and provide regular updates to stakeholders. 
6. Strategic and Operational Planning: The Board of Directors of the Alliance should convene a Strategic Planning session to align AfICTA’s long term goals with an Operational Plan for annual activities.