ANACOM and ITU set up Centre of Excellence in Africa

ANACOM - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações and the ITU - International Telecommunication Union signed an agreement yesterday establishing an ITU Centre of Excellence for Portuguese and Spanish speaking African countries. In addition a memorandum was signed between the national regulator and the regulators of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries together with the statutes establishing the Association of Communications and Telecommunications Regulators of CPLP. These are two important instruments of multilateral cooperation within the framework of telecommunications in general and regulation in particular.

The objective of the Centre of Excellence is the training and qualification of the telecommunications sector in Portuguese and Spanish speaking African countries, whereby it may constitute a key lever for the development of frameworks and create instruments of self-sustainability in training.

ANACOM - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações will invest over half a million dollars in this project, in addition to making a contribution through the provision of unpaid services.

The Centre of Excellence is now established as a result of a protocol signed in December between Mário Lino, the Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications, and Hamadour Touré, Secretary-General of the ITU.

Initially, the Centre of Excellence will be present in Mozambique and Cape Verde, on the assumption that in the future it will be rolled out to other countries.

Regarding the Association of Communications and Telecommunications Regulators of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP-ARCT), its creation has the aim of providing these countries with a set of contacts, experience and mutual learning in the context of the regulation of the communications sector. This is all the more relevant in view of the recognition of the importance of cooperation in terms of promotion of communications markets, in order that users derive maximum benefit in terms of choice, price and quality.

The ARCT-CPLP will be based in Lisbon.

At the same time as the ceremony, two further cooperation protocols were signed between ANACOM and Mozambique and Guinea; as well as within ANACOM's new strategic framework of cooperation policy, the Annual Programmes of Cooperation for 2009 and the Indicative Programme of Cooperation for 2009-2001, established with the regulators of Mozambique, Angola and Guinea Bissau.