Lacina Koné (right) is the new executive director of Smart Africa, the alliance founded in 2013 in Rwanda, to connect Africa and help member countries reach sustainable development goals by capitalizing on the IT sector.

He replaces Hamadoun Touré who has held that position since October 2015. Lacina Koné was elected on February 11, 2019, at the end of a vote cast during the meeting of the executive board on the sidelines of the 32nd African Union summit held on February 10-11, 2019 in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.

At first, an advisor to Ivorian president Alassane Ouattara for IT affairs, Laciné Koné who was thereafter appointed as the advisor to the prime minister in charge of the digital economy and IT reforms is not a newbie in the IT world. Part of his expertise has been honed in prestigious firms such as Intelsat and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Lacina Koné is now in charge of development of the digital transformation works launched by his predecessor in Africa. He will have to work towards the effective implementation of the One Africa Network in development since 2016, the acquisition of most of the submarine cables, fibre optics and satellite data capacities and the implementation of an African space program in collaboration with Japan.