Bocar A. Ba

CEO, SAMENA Telecommunications Council

Speaker Bio

For over 3 decades, Bocar BA has been delivering impact in the Telecom/ICT industry, facilitating collaboration among private-sector and government-sector entities in the pursuit of digitalization and socio-economic conducive policies. BA's professional engagement is recognized in industry-wide advocacy activities, especially toward promoting investment sustainability in the private sector of the Middle East. His innate people-centric approach has mobilized multiple consensus-building platforms, cross-regional stakeholders, and issue-specific advocacy on important sector development challenges.  He is collaborating with leading platforms and global telecommunications development institutions, including the ITU, UN Broadband Commission, the World Bank (WB), and World Economic Forum (WEF), among others, as an objective-minded representative of the private sector and as an advocate of effective policymaking and future-friendly regulation, which are crucial for fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). BA is a principal advisor to various business, investment, and regulatory entities and assists governments, including in Africa and the Middle East regions, in addressing matters relating to digital infrastructure investment, innovation catalysts, sustainable digital economy, job-creation, and citizen-centric public-sector delivery through the use of ICTs.


Bocar BA has also addressed and focused on corroborating the need for strong political will, accelerated digitization, and incentivization to transform Africa's socio-economics situation. He continues to promote new business and cross-border collaboration opportunities, including relating those related to sustainability, sustainable development and use of ICTs, cybersecurity, and beneficial use of Artificial Intelligence for societal and business transformation, across the MEA region.


In 2020, Bocar BA served as a member of the G20 Summit Advisory Board’s Digital Economy Task Force in Saudi Arabia, where he is also active in collaborating with the Global Cyber Security Forum (GCF) on securing Cyberspace and addressing numerous cybersecurity challenges. BA believes AI will have tremendous implications for our collective endeavours toward securing cyberspace and unearthing new opportunities for businesses and people.


Bocar BA has chaired consensus-building and contributed to the development of recommendations for stakeholders worldwide on 21st century funding and financing models, to help accelerate digital infrastructure development and digitalization. He is also advising the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) on a space-sustainability industry segment and on matters relating to digital economy and space economy.