Sam George Unanimously Elected Chair of African Union (AU) ICT Committee for Two-Year Term

The African continent elects Samuel Nartey George as the Chairperson of the African Union’s Specialised Technical Committee on Communication and Information and Communications Technology (AU STC-CICT).

The unanimous election of Sam George in Libreville marks a critical turning point for continental digital policy.

Taking over from the outgoing chairperson, Lesotho’s Minister for Information, Communication, Science, Technology and Innovation, Nthati Morosi, Sam George emphasized in his acceptance address that assuming this chairmanship is a duty owed to the entire African Union rather than a single victory for Ghana alone.

Moving forward, his agenda focuses on shifting Africa’s tech priorities from theoretical policy statements to concrete, real-world execution across all member states.

To achieve this, the Minister outlined key priority areas requiring immediate and harmonized action: expanding reliable internet connectivity, establishing robust data governance frameworks, hardening collective cybersecurity defenses, and nurturing artificial intelligence systems tailored to local realities.

A central theme of his mandate focuses on global negotiations, where he stressed that Africa’s population of nearly 1.5 billion people must leverage its aggregate leverage to shape global tech standards and digital trade rules rather than letting individual states negotiate from positions of weakness.

Underscoring the necessity of a single African voice, Sam George famously stated,

Africa must be at the table, not on the menu,

calling on the continent to actively determine the future of the global digital economy.

He also pointed to domestic initiatives like Ghana’s One Million Coders Programme as an example of equipping young people with digital skills to compete globally.

Over the next two years, his stewardship will focus on consensus-building, active listening, and measuring success through tangible outcomes as African nations work together to bridge the digital divide.

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Sam George’s election as Chair of the AU ICT Committee is a momentous development that highlights Ghana's advancing role in shaping continental innovation.

By prioritizing cybersecurity, equitable data policies, and AI strategies that represent African interests, this leadership term holds immense potential for the entire continent.