“Africa knows it can count on Cameroon whenever the major challenges facing the continent so warrant”. These were words of assurance from the Minister of Communication, Rene Emmanuel Sadi to delegates of participating countries of the Sub Saharan region as he chaired the official opening ceremony on behalf of the Minister of Post and Telecommunication. This was on the occasion of the 8th Sub-Saharan Spectrum Conference holding at Yaounde Conference Center to run from the 3rd to 11th August 2023. Minister Sadi stated that conclusions and proposals that will emerge from each of the working sessions in the coming days will provide operational solutions for universal connectivity and sustainable digital transformation, in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. While research is continuing on all sides in this field, this 8th Conference, the minister added aims to make sub-Saharan Africa find its way in the context of current developments with proceedings to be structured on preparations for the World Radio communication Conference 2023. It will also focus on the use of spectrum for digitization beyond 2024, in particular through the granting of licenses and the provision of the bandwidth required to achieve the main regional objectives of migration to 4G and beyond and exploring the potential of direct satellite connectivity in Africa amongst others. Prior to the intervention of the Minister of Communication, the Technical Coordinator of the International Communication Union ( ITU), Mr Kezia Mwele on behalf of the Secretary General of the ITU expressed his wish for delegates to take decisions that will be useful and called on senior experts to pass on the knowledge acquired for the sake of continuity, while calling on those not yet senior experts to take this forum as a challenge to learn and acquire more skills. The Head of Broadcasting service at the ITU, Mrs Gazi Ilham on her part amongst other issues presented some of the agenda items which are relevant to Sub-Saharan Africa such as accommodating mobile needs for countries who wish to continue to use electronic television, the identification of frequency bands, noting that the outcome of the conference be on climate change, monitoring and improvement of life for all.
