Geneva – On the sidelines of the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Governance and the ITU AI for Good Global Summit in Switzerland, Eswatini’s Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini acknowledged the ITU’s (ITU) support for the kingdom.
In bilateral talks with ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan, Martin at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, discussed a number of areas where Eswatini has benefited from the ITU’s capacity building and support, the most recent being the training of Emaswati application developers on GovStack systems to help build national capacity to develop scalable, open-source digital government applications.
Dlamini expressed Eswatini’s gratitude for the ITU’s long-standing support in advancing the country’s digital transformation agenda, and he also requested that the ITU continue to support the GovStack programme, as well as provide more assistance in improving affordable access to undersea cable connectivity for landlocked countries like Eswatini. 
Through the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) program, ITU helped to develop Eswatini’s National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) Policy, which laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Ministry of Information, Communications, and Technology (ICT) and the Eswatini Communications Commission (ESCCOM).
The Prime Minister also praised the ITU’s technical guidance and assistance in the implementation of Eswatini’s Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) migration program, as well as its funding for the National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCS).
The ITU has also assisted Eswatini in procuring satellite orbital resources.
“Through decisions made at the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23), the ITU allocated orbital resources to Eswatini, which will strengthen at the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23), Eswatini was among the African countries allocated orbital resources, strengthening the country’s future telecommunications capabilities,” he said.
ITU’s Secretary-General Bogdan- Martin said they will continue supporting Eswatini’s digital development priorities, pledging the organisation’s continued partnership.
