Tanzanian engineer secures top job at the African Union

Arusha. A Tanzanian has landed on a top job at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Dr Kamugisha Kazaura has been appointed director of Infrastructure and Energy at the continental organisation.

He will now exit the East African Community (EAC) where he has served as the director of Infrastructure since 2017.

“It is true, I’m leaving the Community and will be joining the AU,” he confirmed when reached by The Citizen.

At the headquarters of the continental body, he will take up the position of director of Infrastructure and Energy.

Dr Kazaura was one of the senior EAC officials feted last week upon retirement or othewise exiting the regional integration bloc.

His departure came only weeks after the EAC was awarded for excellence in project implementation by the AU Commission.

This, AU says, convinced the Board of the African Development Bank (AfDB) to approve $1.4 billion for a road project in the region.

The PQL (Pida Quality Label) Award was made by the AU Development Agency Nepad in recognition of well executed infrastructure projects.

Dr Kazaura was in Nairobi early last month to receive the award on behalf of the EAC during a week dedicated to infrastructure development in Africa.

Prior to joining the EAC, Dr Kazaura served as CEO of the state-run Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) from 2013.

Between 1996 and 2002, he worked as telecommunications engineer at the TTCL headquarters in Dar es Salaam.

The soft-spoken Kazaura is an accomplished electronics and communications engineer and received his bachelor degree from the University of Bath, UK in 1995.

He then worked as TTCL telecom engineer until 2002 when he joined Waseda University in Japan for his MSc and PhD degrees till 2007.

His research interests lie within the general fields of technologies for fixed and mobile high-speed wireless communications networks, among others.

His tenure at TTCL won him accolades for his invaluable experience, insight and what one consultant described as “new brand image for the telecoms market industry”.

He will be among senior Tanzanian nationals to work for the AU and its precursor, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU)

Former Prime Minister Salim Ahmed Salim was OAU secretary general from 1989 until 2001: the longest serving diplomat in that capacity.

In the early 2000, Dr Roselyn Kurwinjila was AU commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, a head of one of the sectors under the Commission.