The Ashesi Trilogues series, which seeks to bring people in public affairs to interact with students, faculty and staff about matters they are involved with, was launched by the Arts & Sciences Department recently. 
Kwaku Sakyi Addo, the first Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, was on campus this past week as the inaugural speaker. For all those present it was a wonderful presentation of the opportunities available to those who really know how to communicate and use communication technology.
Beginning his lecture, Sakyi Addo alluded briefly to his career as one of Ghana’s most reputable and internationally known journalists – a stringer for the BBC, presenter on several of leading radio station Joy FM’s radio programs and host of TV talk show Kwaku One on One. A self-proclaimed “voice of the most respected industry in Ghana,” he demonstrated his strong communication skills with an articulate presentation and discussion of the issues and challenges facing the telecommunications sector in Ghana.
The lecture highlighted key points in the global telecoms timeline before focusing onto the Ghanaian situation: the first direct international dialed called made by President Hilla Limman in 1981, Mobitel starting in 1991, to the present market led by six operators with 27.5million subscriptions.
Sakyi Addo acknowledged that subscribers and subscriptions were not the same thing, and that there was plenty of room for growth in the sector, especially with the current capacity of 13 terabytes of data via the submarine cables landed in Accra. He touched on critical matters such as the impact of Ghana’s telcos on the economy (extremely positive), taxation (taxes from telcos comprise 10% of Ghana Government revenue) and regulation (the Chamber would prefer a softer approach) – with figures to back up his arguments.
Questions came flying during and near the end of the presentation – from an audience of students, faculty and staff – on monopolies, the impact of messaging services such on the telco industry, the role (or lack thereof) of policymakers in setting frameworks for the future, and of how more Ghanaian companies can be involved in the innovative sector.
There were also comments and questions regarding Sakyi Addo’s own career – from journalism to the corporate world. Speaking on why he had chosen to switch from a career in journalism that spanned more than two decades, Sakyi Addo remarked: “if after 25 years I have made an impact, then I have to move on. On the other hand, if after 25 years I have not made any impact, I should move on too. Either way, I either move on or I am occupying space for someone else.”