Conferences and exhibitions, Satellite, ICT, Africa: As Africa seeks to ramp up ICT services the GVF (Global VSAT Forum) has announced a new event in Nigeria. Co-inciding with this ICT Africa is moving from Kenya to Ethiopia and undergoing a name change too...

As a surge of new satellite capacity stimulates renewed market growth on the African continent, the 3rd Annual Global VSat Forum (GVF) West Africa Satellite Communications Summit (WASCS3) has been scheduled for 13-15 November 2007.

With the event having been previously held in the capital Abuja, summit venues in Lagos (Nigeria’s commercial capital) are currently under consideration, and further announcements will be forthcoming shortly.

Following the success of the first two events in this annual conference series, WASCS3 will again be jointly organised by GVF and UK Event Management Partners (UK-EMP), and will focus on the latest developments in the deployment of satellite broadband networking in the commercial, enterprise, government and civil sectors of the nations of the region.

In particular, key user groups have come to rely upon the Nigeria-based conference as a means of meeting suppliers of satcom products and services. In recent years, WASC has attracted decision-makers from the oil & gas, military, humanitarian & aid, and other enterprise markets throughout the region. Sponsorship and extensive speaking opportunities will be available to the entire GVF membership.

In a parallel announcement, The NEPAD (New Partnership for African Development) Council are moving ICT Africa from Kenya to Addis Ababa and re-naming the event Novatech. The official reason for the move is the impending Kenyan elections. The event will now take place in February 2008, just three months prior to the ITU's recently announced Telecom Africa 2008.

Check the events section of Developing Telecoms for more details.