 Your Excellency President Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, Mr. Hulind Zao, ITU Secretary General and fellow elected officials, ambassadors, dignitaries, esteemed colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, please accept my warm welcome to Rwanda and to the eighth edition of the World Telecommunication Development Conference WTDC 2022. I must thank Your Excellency President Paul Kagame for your kind vision and leadership that has enabled the world to congregate in Rwanda for the very first WTDC to be held on the African continent. This WTDC is our chance together to achieve consensus on key issues we will deliberate so that we can bring the 2.9 billion people worldwide into the digital world they currently do not know. Universal, affordable and accessible connectivity for all underpins our individual and collective efforts in industrialization, in building the digital economy, in ensuring our youth have access to information that improves their lives and have access to jobs created through the new future of work. More importantly, we have all experienced the impact of COVID-19 and we've seen why connectivity is and will continue to be a cornerstone for our individual and collective resilience of humanity. This is why I see that the success of WTDC 2022 will be measured from the yardstick of how far our collective decisions over the next two weeks will lead to a better world and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Of the 2.9 billion that remain unconnected, majority of them are our youth. Majority of them are African youth. Majority of them are African women. The just concluded Generation Connect Global Youth Summit was one of the most exciting events I've had the pleasure of engaging in recently. Our youth told us that they want to sit at the decision-making table or at least to influence decisions that impact how they live, work and play. Let us continue to use the opportunity provided by the Partner to Connect Forum to create new and innovative partnerships that will build on the success that has already been achieved. We used to say that the future is digital. Now we must accept that the present is already digital. Let us use WTDC to shape the digital present we are into today and even better digital and connected future. I thank you.