[1st April 2023] The 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the CommunicationsRegulators’ Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) was convened from 30thto 31st March 2023, at Kempinski Hotel Fleuve Congo, Kinshasa,Democratic Republic of Congo.
The AGM was officially opened by His Excellence Minister of Postal,Telecommunication and New Information and Communication Technologies for DRC,Mr Augustin Kibassa Maliba.The meeting was hosted by Autorité de Régulation de la Poste etdes Télécommunications du Congo (ARPTC) and was Chaired by Mr. Joaquim Domingos Muhongo, the Chairperson of Instituto Angolano das Comunicações (INACOM),in his capacity as the Chairperson of CRASA. All thirteen (13) CRASA Members were in attendance.
The AGM noted the progress in the implementation of the CRASAStrategic Plan 2018 to 2023. It also received the presentation on the new CRASA Strategic Plan2023/28. It was noted that the Vision, Mission and Values had been revised to focus on assisting SADC to achieve regional integration. It was also noted that three (3) strategic focus areas including the Effective Regulation; Access andInclusion; and Organisational Sustainability. It was further noted that the focus for the next five year would be how CRASA could assist the SADC to achieve regional integration especially economic integration.
The AGM noted the status of implementation of the CRASA Operational Plan2022/23. The implementation of the plan was led by the eight (8) specialised committees of CRASA. Various reports from the Committees were noted regarding theextent of harmonization in the ICT and Postal regulatory frameworks in theSouthern African region.
Amongst significant frameworks that were approved by the AGM in accelerating regional integration was the Guidelines for the Type Approval andConformity Assessment of Electronic Communications in SADC. The Guidelines outlined the processes, such as analysis of product specification, determination of applicable standards, Accreditation of Conformity Assessment bodies, and verification of the legitimacy of the test reports, for the type-approval of Electronic Communications Equipment, and enhance harmonisation of the processes among SADC Members States. The guidelines aim at accelerating the harmonisation process for type approval processes that would enhance trade among members, exploit economies of scale for electronic communications equipment, reduce costs for duplication of type approval and conformity assessment tests among SADC Member States
In addition, the AGM approved the Southern Africa Postal Excellence Awards (SAPEA), a joint initiative between CRASA and the Southern African Postal Operators Association (SAPOA).The SAPEA will be officially launched upon its endorsement by the SADCMinisters responsible for ICT, Postal and Telecommunications.
During the AGM, the newExecutive Committee for the 2023/24 was elected. DRC was elected as the CRASA Chairperson,Angola was elected as the First Vice Chairperson; Eswatini was elected as theSecond Vice Chairperson and Botswana retained its Treasurer position.
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