Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) board Chairperson Mary Wambui has been elected as Vice Chairperson of the Council of African Regulators (CAR) during the 13th meeting of the Council in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Mary contested to become chairperson but came in second. She will deputise Guinea Conakry's Director-General of the Regulatory Authority for Posts and Telecommunications Mamady Doumbouya who won the polls with 12 votes.

CAR is a consultative forum for ICT regulators within the Smart Africa Alliance.

Wambui garnered 7 votes ahead of Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority Director-General Daud Suleman who came in third with 4 votes.

Her election comes shortly after Kenya won the bid to host the Transform Africa Summit (TAS) from August 28 to 30, 2024.

Smart Africa is a bold and innovative commitment from African Heads of State to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development on the continent - ushering Africa into a knowledge economy through affordable access to Broadband and usage of ICT.

The Pan African agency was formed during the TAS held in Kigali, Rwanda on between October 23 and 30, 2013 initially by seven (7) countries; Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Mali, Gabon, and Burkina Faso.

The SMART Africa Manifesto was endorsed by all Heads of State and Government of the African Union at the 22nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa on January 30-31, 2014.

The Smart Africa Alliance has since grown to include 39 African countries that represent over 1 billion people.