Members of the Ghana Internet Service Providers’ Association (GISPA) have unanimously voted to renew the mandate of its board led by Richard Densu of MTN, for an additional two years.

The members were convinced by the solid results achieved by the Richard Densu led board during the two-year mandate of manning the affairs of the association.

During this time, the board has started a very significant restructuring process which seeks to rebuild GISPA to enable it to fulfill its mandate. For the first time, a secretariat has been set up with full-time staff to handle affairs of the association. Hitherto, activities were outsourced to a third-party organization.

“One of the very significant things we decided to do when we took over was to re-organize the association. We saw the need to have our own secretariat which will exclusively handle all GISPA issues and at the same time serve as a credible address for all our partners and stakeholders. This, we have successfully done. The enabling environment created has resulted in increased engagements with stakeholders in the industry in Ghana and the sub-region affording us the opportunity to champion the course of our members.

The Ghana Internet Exchange (GIX) which is owned and operated by GISPA has also been restructured and expanded resulting in appreciable growth in membership traffic,” said Mr Densu.

“In our quest to provide thought leadership in the industry, we organized the first of what has become the Ghana Internet Conference which brought key persons within the internet space to speak to significant issues including the cost of internet in Ghana. It’s our plan to make this conference our annual signature event which will be carefully organized to bring members and other experts together to deliberate on how to grow the industry and make it better and safer for all”.

The association has announced that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Ghana Internet Conference will be held virtually and with special focus on the security of the internet space in Ghana.

“One key focus of the board in the coming year is on the establishment of a credible internet research desk in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders within the ecosystem. We wish to assure our members and all stakeholders of the commitment of the board. We will continue to work with all industry players, continue with the various initiatives we have started and ensure GISPA, as an institution, is positioned to contribute to the development of the internet industry in Ghana,” Mr Densu said.

Other members of the board include Emmanuel Kwateng of MainOne, Michael Nfodzo of Vodafone, Isaac Ayiku of Dolphin and Stephen Cudjoe-Sesshie of Airtel-Tigo.

The GISPA constitution provides for a two-year tenure for Presidents/Board Chair which is renewable for another term. Board members are elected from representatives of the member-organizations which is made up of all Internet Service Providers in Ghana.