A Statement from the Executive Secretary Mr. Jacob Munodawafa

The Southern Africa Telecommunications Association (SATA) established by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) under the Transport, Communications and Meteorology (TCM) Protocol provides a regional platform for SADC Telecommunications and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Operators and cooperating partners to formulate common positions, views and responses on issues affecting members through sharing experiences, developing collaborative programmes, and striving to keep abreast of important trends and innovations in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) market place. With its principle of cooperation, SATA presents enormous opportunities at both regional and international level among telecommunications operators and other ICT stakeholders to further consolidate and strengthen their linkages and synergies through networking and knowledge sharing. Through strong conviction in the spirit of collaborative engagement, SATA Members believe that an opportunity to work together is a great opportunity to win in business. The Executive Secretary with the support of the dedicated SATA Secretariat Staff is working very closely with the SATA Members and the Cooperating Partners in the execution of the SATA Mission.

To assist the Executive Secretary in running the SATA activities and programmes is ENGINEER JOHN SAIDI KIMBE reponsible for Technology and Policy. SATA Secretariat was inauguarated by the then Minister of Transports and Communications of Mozambique, Dr. Tomaz Augusto Salamao in July 2002 in Maputo, Mozambique. The Secretariat is hosted by the Government of Mozambique in Maputo. Before the inauguration as a full Secretariat, SATA operated as a Technical Unit under the SATCC which was also based in Maputo, Mozambique. Responsible for coordinating the development of ICT infarstructure and Services within the SADC region, SATA works very closely and receices a lot of support from regional and international organisations like the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) , the African Develeopment Bank (AfDB) , the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) , the World Bank , Forum for International Irregular Network Access (FIINA) , Communications Regulators Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) , African Telecommunications Union (ATU) , NEPAD e-Africa Commission etc.