The Office of the Gabonese President announces that President Ali Bongo Ondimba was awarded the “ICT in sustainable development” prize by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), during a ceremony organised yesterday at the UN headquarters in New York as part of the 150^th anniversary of ITU.

The award was conferred by the General Secretary of the Union, Houlin Zhao. The “ICT in Sustainable Development” distinction is awarded to leaders who have managed to initiate decisive actions to improve access to information and communication technologies (ICT), reduce their cost and expand their coverage to serve social and economic development. ITU thus pays tribute to the important progress made in Gabon in terms of ICT development for the populations.

To recall, the World Regulatory Institutions Symposium gathered in Libreville in June 2015 some 400 executives in telecommunications at the initiative of ITU, under the chairmanship of the Electronic Communications and Posts Regulatory Authority (ARCEP). The Gabonese authorities then reaffirmed their ambition to ensure accessible, available and affordable ICT for a better contribution to the GDP. A promise which was kept and now rewarded.