Events, Satellite, Broadband, Global: Against a backdrop of its increased involvement in West Africa, the Global VSAT Forum’s (GVF) ICT and Vertical Markets Programme is all set to showcase its present and future in next month’s 3rd West Africa Satellite Communications Summit (WASCS3).
A surge of new satellite capacity is stimulating growth in the ICT market across Africa as a whole – particularly after the successful launch of the Nigerian owned and operated NIGCOMSAT-1 geostationary satellite in May 2007 – while the West African region in particular is playing an increasing role as a focus point for state-of-the-art satellite-based communications, with broadband satellite services assuming an even stronger leading part in the regional socio-economic development agenda.
WASC3 will allow representatives of the global satellite communications services vendor community to convene in West Africa to extend their dialogue with high-level end-users in key industry sectors. Lagos, Nigeria will play host to WASC3 from November 20-21. The registrations list proves the high-level support and participation of major commercial organisations not only from the satellite communications industry but also the oil and gas, financial services, and enterprise and distribution vertical markets. The summit will this year held at the Protea Hotel, Oakwood Park in Lagos. The organisers GVF and UK Event Management Partners (UK-EMP), are keen to express their gratitude to their immediate associates Nigcomsat and also to the other sponsors, Schlumberger and Accelon. WASCS3 will focus on the latest developments in the evolutionary deployment of satellite broadband networking to serve the leading commercial and enterprise verticals of the region. To achieve this, major internationals from the oil and gas sector which are confirmed as organising delegations for the summit include Shell, Total, Chevron Texaco, ExxonMobil, Agip, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Pan Ocean Oil Corporation (POOC), and Nigeria LNG.
From the banking and financial services arena there is very strong interest in summit attendance and participation in the programme from Guaranty Trust Bank, Diamond Bank, Access Bank Nigeria, Capital Alliance, Fidelity Bank, First Bank Nigeria, Intercontinental Bank, and Zenith.
Across all the regions of Africa, the imperative of overcoming the barriers to – and fixing the manifold current deficiencies in – the means of access to low-cost communication services is top of the agenda not only for improving the quality of life in African countries, but for significantly enhancing the mission-critical, productivity capabilities of a range of African vertical markets.
Several themes have emerged from the West African market that are regarded as so important they have received their own dedicated sessions at WASC3. The key banking and financial services organisations noted above have combined to support the interactive panel session entitled Regional Vertical: Managed Networks & the West African Banking & Private Equity Sector. In turn, distribution and how best to achieve it efficiently is the theme of another panel interactive meeting named Regional Vertical: The Advance of the Enterprise & Distribution Satellite Paradigm.
On November 19, the day before the opening of WASCS3, GVF will be holding one of its regular training events which focus on the capacity and skills building requirements of West Africa. A one-day course in the GVF VSAT Installation & Maintenance programme will be led by one of the Association’s leading certified instructors from the Africa/Middle East region.More details of this training programme will be published shortly.
GVF’s Martin Jarrold comments "It is the mission of the WASC Summit series to promote networking discussion and an expanded appreciation of the demand factor and supply factor inter-relationships in the regional communications environment of West Africa.The first two summits were clearly successful in this, and the third will undoubtedly be even more fruitful in this regard."
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Date: 1-3 September 2008