Every video stream, cross-border payment, or online business registration is touched by policies debated at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). When an internet connection drops or roaming charges spike the moment a traveller crosses an African border, it is easy to blame the network provider. In reality, the roots of these daily digital frictions often lie far beyond telecom operators: decisions about internet speeds and how satellite bandwidth is divided across the continent are argued out thousands of miles away.

From November 9 to 27, 2026, candidates from around the world will gather in Doha, Qatar, for the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-26) to elect the 48 Member States of the ITU Council for the 2027–2030 term. Held every four years, the Plenipotenti Conference is the ITU's highest policy-making body: alongside these elections, Member States set the Union's strategic plan and budget for the cycle ahead.

The ITU is the United Nations' specialised agency for digital technology, satellite orbits, and global telecommunications. Between its major conferences, it acts as the governing body that facilitates global policy, directs infrastructure budgets, and shapes how global spectrum rules are drafted and implemented. The incoming Council typically meets once a year, carrying those responsibilities between plenipotentiary conferences.

On election day in Doha, the electorate will comprise the official government delegations of all 194 ITU Member States — meaning every country, big or small, gets a vote.

Africa is allocated 13 designated seats on the 48-member Council, part of the Union's approach of spreading representation across the world's regions. Placing innovative, effective leaders in those 13 seats helps ensure that the continent's deepest challenges — connectivity, the digital divide, and the usage gap — remain priorities on the global stage.

Continental campaigns take shape

Countries across Africa are already mobilising campaigns to secure a seat on the ITU Council for 2027–2030.

South Africa is seeking re-election to maintain its influence over regional policy and spectrum governance, while Rwanda is campaigning for a fifth consecutive term after serving continuously since 2010. Nigeria and Uganda are both pushing for re-election following major structural investments in local tech workforces and infrastructure.

Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal are mobilising regional support through the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) to defend Francophone representation. Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Tanzania, and Tunisia are all aiming for re-election after serving on the 2023–2026 board.

New bids are coming from Gabon, Cabo Verde, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Libya, and Mali — a signal of a continent-wide drive to secure a direct voice in global governance. Nineteen countries in all are chasing those 13 seats, so several African campaigns are set to fall short when delegations vote in Doha.

In most cases, the individuals spearheading each country's bid are its Minister of Communications, Innovation, or Technology, or the equivalent telecoms regulator.

The candidates to watch

Bosun Tijani (Nigeria). A former tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB), Tijani brings startup speed to public administration. Rather than treating telecommunications as mere pipe-laying, he sees it as an engine for workforce export. His flagship initiative is the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program, which aims to train 3 million young Nigerians in software engineering, data science, and AI. Other efforts include Project BRIDGE, a deployment of 90,000 km of fibre-optic cable and 3,700 rural telecom towers, alongside skill acquisition initiatives run through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

Samuel Nartey George (Ghana). George has built a reputation as an advocate for African digital sovereignty, with a focus on ending the continent's reliance on foreign tech facilities and keeping cloud data within African territory. His key initiatives include promoting homegrown tech ecosystems tailored to local African languages and contexts, and pushing regional payment systems such as the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to keep intra-African trade and financial data secure within local networks.

Malatsi (South Africa). Malatsi is known for cutting out middlemen and lengthy administrative processes to make high-speed internet accessible beyond major urban hubs — a task with particular weight in Africa's most industrialised yet inequality-shaped economy. His key initiatives include reshaping state-owned enterprises and fast-tracking spectrum auctions to ensure competitive telecoms providers, while championing public-private partnerships to bridge the digital divide and fuel the growth of South Africa's economy. Those auctions, in turn, must operate within the international frequency framework the ITU maintains — the same rulebook the incoming Council will help shape from 2027.

Ingabire (Rwanda). Under Ingabire's leadership, Rwanda has ceased to view ICT as just another economic sector and now treats it as an avenue for innovative technology. Her flagship initiative is Kigali Innovation City, a pan-African innovation hub housing universities, tech ventures, and startup incubators under one umbrella. She also leads the regional Smart Africa initiative and urges African youth to leverage social platforms for digital employment and technical skills.

Kabogo (Kenya). Having inherited the region's famed “Silicon Savannah”, Kabogo is focused on turning the startup ecosystem into digital governance. He is pressing for the completion of Kenya's national AI and Emerging Technologies Policy, alongside an acceleration of full public-sector digitisation to drive government transparency and bring citizen services into a single digital pipeline.

Hindy (Egypt). Hindy has nearly four decades of telecom engineering experience and applies that background to structural innovation in Egypt's digital transformation. His key initiative is the Digital Egypt strategy, which is moving more than 270 government services onto unified digital platforms. He is also driving public investment into electronics manufacturing and IT to position Egypt as a primary hub for global tech talent.

Sid Ali Zerrouki (Algeria). Zerrouki is known for emphasising national advances in fibre optics, 5G, and fixed high-speed internet, and for exploring bilateral collaboration on cybersecurity and governance — a mindset he brings to North Africa's telecom landscape. He led Algeria's integration into the global “50-in-5” campaign for Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and advocates internationally for a global AI equity agency that emphasises sovereign technical capacity over basic training courses.

Beyond the Council seats

Aside from the 13 Council seats, African leaders are contesting crucial individual posts within the ITU.

Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava of Zimbabwe is running for Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), a position pivotal for directing funding and infrastructure programs toward developing nations.

A separate contest is underway for Africa's designated three slots on the 12-member Radio Regulations Board (RRB). Four African candidates — Dr Mohamed El-Moghazi (Egypt), Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko (Ghana), Basebi Mosinyi (Bot), and Sana Zairi (Morocco) — are vying for the three seats, leaving one of the four campaigns to miss out.

The RRB is the international body that resolves complex satellite orbit disputes and manages radio spectrum allocations, making the three slots vital for protecting Africa's wireless and space technology interests.