Bocar A BA

Bocar BA has over 30 years of experience, delivering impact in the Telecom/ICT sector. BA’s professional engagement is well-recognized in industry-wide advocacy activities, especially toward promoting investment sustainability in the private sector of the Middle East. His innate people-centric approach has mobilized multiple consensus-building platforms, cross-regional relationship-building, and issue-specific advocacy on important sector-development challenges.

An advocacy specialist, focused on the promotion of sustainable digital development, ICT infrastructure expansion and investment through collaboration and multi-stakeholder partnerships in the Middle East and Africa regions, Mr BA is collaborating with leading platforms and global telecommunications development organizations as an objective-minded representative of the Private Sector and as an advocate of effective policy-making and future-friendly regulation, with the primary purpose of accelerating digitization, reducing digital divides, and collectively contributing to the fulfillment of the UN Member States’ Sustainable Development Goals as well as improving national ICT development indicators around the world.

In his role as CEO & Board Member of SAMENA Telecommunications Council, a leading ICT industry representative body in the South Asia – Middle East – North Africa region, active in digital development advocacy between the private and the government sectors, Mr BA helps bring together and build alliances among digital ecosystem stakeholders, including regulators and other government bodies, to address critical techno-centric, policy and regulatory issues. His efforts have directly helped drive knowledge-exchange programs, industry discussion platforms, and outcome-driven bilateral meetings.

Mr BA is also Commissioner in the United Nations’ Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, where he actively contributes toward making progress on the Commission’s existing recommendations, to help materialize access to broadband throughout the MEA region and beyond. At the Broadband Commission, Mr BA contributes to provide governments and policymakers with a set of policy recommendations for consideration to foster innovative funding, financing and investment strategies for ICT infrastructure development.

At the ITU, Mr BA chairs the IAGDI/CRO to help identify and align development priorities of the ICT Private Sector and Member States, to remove policy and regulatory impediments within the Industry in order to achieve sustainable digital development and to promote investment in the Digital Economy.