Somalia attends ITU conference with full voting rights for the first time in decades

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Buenos Aires, Argentina | QOL | October 12, 2017 – The Minister of Posts, Telecom and Technology has told that Somalia is no longer the only country in the world with no telecom regulation after the president signed the communications bill into law on October 2nd.

The Minister was speaking at ITU conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Somalia is attending the conference – for the first in three decades – with full voting rights after the Ministry has recently managed to start the process of paying the dues, which have been outstanding since 1983.

H. E. Abdi Ashur Hassan told that this step would not only help the Ministry become a meaningful member of ITU but also pave the way for full partnership with ITU in the development of Somalia’s ICT sector.

“I would like to thank the prime minister and his deputy, telecom operators and ITU leadership for their commitment and understanding; we would not have done this without their efforts given the current financial constraints of the government,” added the minister.

“Somalia’s telecom industry is currently driven by the business sector with no tangible contribution by the government in terms of building infrastructure that would add value to their operations and increase government revenues. We want to fill that gap and help investors to move to the next level so that government can generate more taxes from the sector” concluded the minister.