[19th April 2024] The 13th AnnualGeneral Meeting (AGM) of the Communications Regulators’ Association of SouthernAfrica (CRASA) was convened from 11th to 12th April 2024, at Royal Villas, Ezulwini, Eswatini.
The AGM was officially opened by Permanent Secretary in theMinistry of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), Mr Phesheya Dube. The meeting was hosted by Eswatini Communications Commission (ESCCOM) and was Chaired by Dr. Bruno Yuma, representative of the President of Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télécommunications du Congo (ARPTC), in his capacity as the Chairperson of CRASA. Twelve (12) CRASA Members were in attendance.
The AGM noted the progress in the implementation of the CRASA StrategicPlan 2023/28. The implementation of the plan was led by the eight (8) standingcommittees of CRASA. Various reports from the Committees were noted regarding the extent of harmonisation in the ICT and Postal regulatory frameworks in theSouthern African region.
Of notable progress was the adoption of the licensing framework forNon-Geostationary Satellite Orbit (NGSO) system in the Southern AfricanDevelopment Committee (SADC) to assist National Regulator Authorities (NRAs)within the SADC region to develop a regulatory framework to license resident or non-resident service providers of the NGSO satellite services. In addition, the13th AGM also adopted the Framework on Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA) of Type Approval and Conformity Assessment to increase facilitation of trade by ensuring that regulations, standards, testing and certification procedures do not create unnecessary obstacles. Further, the 13th AGM received reports on progress status in harmonisation of postal regulatory frameworks including report on the intra-regional Postal Quality of Service(QoS) Project.
During the AGM, the new Executive Committee for the 2024/25 was elected. Eswatini was elected as the CRASA Chairperson, DRC was elected as the First ViceChairperson; Lesotho was elected as the Second Vice Chairperson and Botswana retained its Treasurer position.
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