The Ivory Coast's Secretary of State for Posts and Telecommunications, M. Kone Bangali, opened a meeting of the Second African group of 'Intelsat' Governors on Friday (4 October).

The group had met twice before, in Yaounde in July 1973 and in Kinshase in January of this years. Its members include the Ivory Coast, Gabon, Senegal, Cameroun and Zaire. A delegation from the Central African Republic was also at the meeting. One of the items on the agenda was consideration of the Republic's application to join the group.

In his opening address, M. Bangali told delegates the success of the group showed that while Africa was hungry and thirsty, Africans are more than conscious that "not by bread alone does man live."
The Governors also discussed the problems brought about by the introduction of Intelsat 4-A satellites and the choice of Cameroun for a ground-tracking station.

Intelsat operates a network of civilian telecommunication satellites and is run by a Board of Governors from participating regions. The users of the system must be members of the International Telecommunications Union.

The Intelsat 4-A is an interim model designed to serve until 1978.

All of the founding member states of the second African group have ground stations for satellite communication.