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Gambia News : West Africa telecomms regulatory assembly AGM opens in Gambian capital

According to The Gambia Public Utilities Fegulatory Authority (PURA) , the host of the meeting, member states are attending the international sub-regional meeting to focus on telecommunications development within the auspices of the ECOWAS treaty.

WATRA has been described in an official release as a consultative and collaborative body of telecommunications regulators in the West Africa sub-region with a mandate to aid and advance the cause of telecommunications development in the sub-region and ultimately in Africa.

To this end. WATRA “promotes the establishment of modern legal and regulatory structures for telecommunications and seeks the development and harmonization of regulations for telecommunications service delivery and pricing in all countries in the sub-region.

“WATRA facilitates the attainment of a uniform telecommunications service standard in the sub-region and the adoption of uniform technical quality standards for telecommunication applications and equipment employed in the sub-region.

“WATRA initiates, encourages and supports human resources and capacity building efforts aimed at redressing the shortage of indigenous skills, competencies and capabilities in emerging information and communication technologies in the sub-region.

"WATRA collaborates and cooperates with other regional and internatonal organisations towards the attainment of its mission to ensure the rapid development of information and telecommunications in the sub-region.”

The member states represented at the Banjul meeting include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote D’Ivoie, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

During their meeting, delegates will review the Secretariat’s report, the 2008 WATRA Audit Report, regulate the status of membership dues and elect a new excecutive.