Enabling Mobile Transformation in Africa

November 18, 2008

Speaker Profiles

External Speakers

Benjamin Ntim, Minister of Communications, Republic of Ghana

Dr. Benjamin Ntim was appointed the Minister of Communications by the President of the Republic of Ghana on 1st August 2007. Before then he was Deputy Minister of Communications since 2005. He is also the first Chairman of the Council of the GhanaTelecomUniversityCollege since it was set up in April 2005. Prior to this he served as the Consultant Engineer for the Implementing Committee for the establishment of the Faculty of Engineering Sciences at the University of Ghana, Legon. Dr. Ntim has wide experience in the planning, management, monitoring and evaluation of institutions and projects related to communications, energy, education, aviation and science, technology and engineering.

Emmanuel C. Lallana, PhD, Commissioner CICT, Republic of the Philippines

Mr. Lallana is Commissioner, Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), Office of the President, Republic of the Philippines. The CICT is the primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, regulating entity of the Philippine government that promotes, develops, and regulates integrated and strategic ICT systems and enables reliable and cost-efficient communication facilities and services in the country. Before he joined the Philippine government in September 2004, Dr. Lallana was actively engaged in research, training and consulting on ICT policy. From 2000-2002, he was the Executive Director of the e-ASEAN Task Force (eATF) – an advisory body to the South East Asian inter-governmental organization on developing ICT competencies among its 10 member countries. He also worked with the Philippine legislature in developing a legal framework for e-commerce (Republic Act 8792). Dr. Lallana's recent publications include SMS in Business and Government (2004), State of eGovernment in the Philippines 2003-2004 (2004); mGovernment: Mobile/Wireless Applications in Government (available at He was the Series Editor of e-Primers on Information Economy, Society and Polity vol 1-7 and author of the Information Age – the first volume in the series (online version: Dr. Lallana also wrote the chapter on the Philippines in the Digital Review of the Asia Pacific 2003-2004 (

World Bank Speakers

Philippe Dongier, Sector Manager, CITPO, Global ICT Department

Philippe Dongier is Sector Manager for ICT in the Global ICT Department. Philippe joined the World Bank Group in 1998 and has worked in the infrastructure and sustainable development sectors, in the anchors and in Asia, Africa and Latin America. He was manager for Afghanistan reconstruction (2001-2004), and recently authored a World Bank report entitled ‘Infrastructure: Lessons from the Last Two Decades of World Bank Engagement’

Prior to joining the Bank, Philippe was with McKinsey & Company (1993-1998), advising companies and governments on issues of strategy and organizational restructuring. From 1986 to 1992, he worked in Nepal and Vietnam on decentralized and community-based infrastructure. Philippe holds an MBA from INSEAD and a BA in economics from McGillUniversity.

Jane Treadwell, Consultant, Global ICT Department

Jane is currently a consultant with the Global ICT Department of the World Bank. She has worked in a range of roles and industries, with a focus on strategic management and organizational change. Her early career roles were in health and human services industries as a health professional and later in service planning, research and administration. In 1998 Jane joined Centrelink as its first CIO. During her tenure with Centrelink, the agency emerged as one of the most highly regarded, and successful organizations delivering electronic services to 6.5 million Australians. Jane later joined the Victorian Government as its Chief Information Officer in 2005. While in the State of Victoria, Jane has worked across government to build and implement a corporate ICT standardization strategy, energize its shared services initiatives, grow its information leadership capability and introduce new approaches focusing on the citizen. Gartner recognized Jane as one of the leading 'new breed' of Information Officers, around the world. Jane brings a rich and diverse experience of dealing with technology mediated transformations in government, both at the federal and the state levels.

Andi Dervishi, Investment Officer, Global ICT Depart

Andibrings a combined experience of entrepreneurship, private equity and change management consultancy. At International Finance Corporation he makes investments in technology companies and leads the practice of Financial Technologies (Fintech) and e-Government Outsourcing. He has invested in or managed over 20 investments in companies at different development stages in USA, China, Albania, Turkey, UAE, Philippines, Egypt, Pakistan, USA, South Africa, Vietnam, Peru, Mexico, etc. where he has deployed over US$80 million in equity in almost all continents. He serves on the Boards of some of such companies located in Turkey, Philippines, South Africa, Pakistan, USA, UAE, etc.

Andi has worked as a privatization advisor with Deloitte & Touche, where he co-managed the liquidation, privatization or spinoff of over US$600 million in assets. He has advised the Governments of Albania, China, Nigeria and Uganda on privatization and reorganization issues. He has also started and run small companies in retail and telecommunications. Before Deloitte and his entrepreneurial days, Andi worked for a private equity fund where he oversaw equity investments in manufacturing, retail, real estate and financial services.

Oleg Petrov, Coordinator, e-Development Thematic Group and Consultant, CITPO, GICT, World Bank
Oleg Petrov works at the Global ICT Department and until recently was with ISG e-Government Practice. He has been with the World Bankover for11 years and has focused on promoting the ICT for development and e-government agenda at the Bank and in the client countries by initiating and coordinating a number of programs and initiatives, especially in the knowledge sharing and capacity building area. This included about 20 online features and about 80 seminars and workshops on ICT and e-government. Oleg initiated the Global Development Gateway program, coordinated about 20 Country Gateways in Europe and Asia and managed a global portal on ICT4D. Since 2003 he has been coordinating e-Development Thematic Group of the World Bank. Oleg has contributed to several integrated e-development and e-government project funded by the Bank, including e-Sri Lanka. He also works with the European Union’s Public Sector Institutional Reform project in Russia as senior international expert on e-government.