Nigeria’s Omobola Johnson succeeds Kenya’s Bitange Ndemo as A4A1 chair

Dr. Omobola Johnson, former minister of communication technology in Nigeria who is the newly appointed A4A1 Chairperson.

The alliance for affordable internet (A4AI), an initiative to make the internet affordable to people around the world has appointed Dr. Omobola Johnson as the chairperson.

Omobola Johnson, was the former minister of communication technology in Nigeria. She replaces Dr. Bitange Ndemo, another former permanent secretary of Kenya’s ministry of information, who served as A4AI Honorary Chair from the A4AI’s launch in October 2013 until 2014.

Dr. Johnson will be faced with the role of providing A4AI with strategic policy guidance and will lead high level international advocacy efforts to help A4AI drive down unacceptably high broadband prices, and bring billions more online, fast.

“In this era of technological innovation, it is simply unacceptable that policies and regulations still conspire to keep Internet access unaffordable for billions. Today, an entry-level mobile broadband package costs the average African over 15% of their monthly earnings, while an average European would pay just 1%. That affordability gap helps to explain why over 80% of European households are online, compared to just 11% of African households,” said Dr. Johnson.

She also added, “I’ve seen firsthand the incredible power of the Web to improve health, education, economic and development outcomes, particularly for women and rural populations, and I’ve also seen how smart, collaborative policymaking can drive prices down fast. Now, I’m excited to be able to use my experience and networks to accelerate the progress A4AI is already making.”

Ms. Johnson is an experienced ICT policy professional, Dr. Johnson brings to the role over 30 years of experience across both the private and public sectors.

Between 2011 and 2015, she served as Nigeria’s Minister of Communication Technology, where she oversaw the creation and implementation of policy to enable affordable Internet, including the development and presentation of the country’s 2013-2018 National Broadband Plan.

During her time as Minister, the percentage of Internet users in the country nearly doubled from 24% (2010) to 43% (2014), and Nigeria became the first African country to join A4AI in 2013.

Prior to 2011, she spent over two decades at Accenture, including a five-year stint as country managing director for Nigeria. Dr. Johnson holds a DBA from Cranfield University in the UK, and from 2014 to 2015 served as the Chair of the 18th session of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD).

Ms. Johnson has ranked up an impressive resume during her tenure as the minister of communication technology in Nigeria. Some of these include: implementation of policies to enable broadband internet, Nigeria also became the first African country to join the A4AI.

Speaking on the appointment A4AI Executive Director Sonia Jorge added that they were looking forward to working together with Dr. Johnson to advance our work and goal of making affordable broadband for all a reality.