The Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO) has started searching for its new CEO to fill the position in September.
The appointment, a four-year renewable contract, is open to citizens of any Commonwealth country that is a full member of the CTO.
The current CEO, Ghanaian Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, is stepping down in September to pursue “personal interests” despite an invitation by some members of the CTO Council to continue for another term as CEO.
Spio-Garbrah, says his eight years at the helm of CTO have been among the most satisfying periods of his career. A former communications minister of Ghana, he says, he is happy to step down after accomplishing the most important tasks that he had set out to do when joining the CTO.
These tasks, he says, included playing a major role in building new partnerships, providing a much-needed business and commercial orientation to the deliverables of the organisation, and recruiting staff who are poised to take the CTO to its next level of growth and expansion.
By focusing on developmental issues such as rural communications and e-governance, adds Spiro-Garbrah, the CTO has jumped ahead of comparable organisations by recognising some of the key issues that will enable ICTs to propel growth in member countries.
Spio-Garbrah is the first African to have headed the CTO since its inception in 1901.
The general-manager of CareerWeb, Ernie Hipner, says the fact that the outgoing CEO for the organisation is from Africa should inspire more candidates from the continent to apply. “This shows there are people in the continent who are capable of running big organisations like the CTO.”
According to the CTO Council, Spio-Garbrah's successor will be identified by May 2011. The CTO Council will formally approve the successful candidate at its meeting in Trinidad and Tobago on 15 and 16 September.
CTO council chairman, Lalith Weeratunga, points out that the CEO is the public face of the organisation, and is responsible for giving direction and clarity to the organisation's strategic and policy development. He adds that the post has been pivotal for more than a century thanks to the contributions of “some exceptional individuals” from the worldwide telecoms sector.
Weeratunga adds that the CTO is looking for “someone with the intellect, drive, skill and experience to take us to even greater heights.”
The closing date for applications is 21 March.
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