The Association for Progressive Communications (APC), the Information Society Division of the African Union Commission (AUC) and Research ICT Africa (RIA) are pleased to open the call for the 13th annual African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG 2025). This year’s edition will take place from 22 to 27 May 2025 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania immediately prior to the African Internet Governance Forum (IGF) scheduled from 28 to 31 May.
About AfriSIG
The first AfriSIG was convened in 2013 in Durban, South Africa and the most recent, AfriSIG 2024, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia alongside the African IGF.
Over the years, AfriSIG has built a multidisciplinary cadre with expertise in internet governance through the participation of current and emerging leaders drawn from government, business, academia, the media, the technical community and civil society. The diversity of participants reflects the school’s objective of enhancing multistakeholder cooperation in national to global internet policy and development.
AfriSIG’s primary goal is to give Africans who are already active in internet governance or digital policy from various sectors and stakeholder groups the opportunity to gain knowledge that will enable them to participate effectively with increased confidence in national, regional and global internet and digital governance processes and debates.
Curriculum
AfriSIG will take place over the course of five days as an intensive and interactive learning, knowledge-sharing and networking event. The curriculum will cover:
- Digitalisation, sustainable development and digital inequality/inclusion
- The internet governance ecosystem from a multilateral and multistakeholder perspective
- The African institutional context
- Roles of government, intergovernmental forums, UN agencies (e.g. UNESCO, the ITU and more), regulators, parliaments, civil society, business, academia and the technical community
- Open internet architecture, infrastructure, standards and protocols and management of internet names and numbers.
- Data governance: data protection, security, data flows, sovereignty and localisation with special emphasis on the African Union Data Policy Framework
- Internet governance and social issues: gender, human rights, political participation and access to information
- Cybersecurity, trust and safety
- Content regulation: self-regulation, oversight boards, national regulation, misinformation and disinformation, and cross-border content regulation and jurisdiction
- Emerging issues: artificial intelligence, climate change, digital sovereignty and the geopolitics of internet governance.
- Current processes and debates, e.g. WSIS+20, the Global Digital Compact and the Summit of the Future, the Open-Ended Working Group on international cybersecurity, and more.
For the practicum component for AfriSIG 2025, we will continue our focus on data governance (first introduced in 2023). We will also include a focus on the 20-year review of the World Summit of the Information Society (WSIS+20).
Who can apply?
You are eligible to apply for AfriSIG 2025 if you meet the following criteria:
- You are passionate about the internet as a driver for people-centred development in Africa
- You work in internet, telecommunications, media or digital policy, data governance, or digital development or rights in any sector or stakeholder group (see list below).
- You have relevant work experience in internet governance or ICT research, policy and regulation.
- You are not a beginner − this programme is designed for professionals with prior knowledge and experience.
- You are in a position to contribute meaningfully to strengthening internet governance in Africa and amplifying African voices in global discussions.
- Your current employment or studies support your active engagement in internet governance.
- We strongly encourage applications from individuals in middle or senior management positions or those who play a leadership role in their field or institutions.
We welcome applicants from:
- Government ministries and departments
- National and regional communications regulatory authorities
- Public sector information and communications services such as public libraries
- Members of parliament who are involved in parliamentary portfolio committees that deal with media, communications and information technology issues
- Service providers and other businesses that form part of the internet industry
- Civil society and non-governmental organisations that interact with or operate in the internet-related information and communications sector
- Human rights, gender and ecological justice advocates
- Human rights institutions dealing with internet issues, such as national or regional human rights commissions
- Community-based information and communications services and the broader community informatics sector.
- The judiciary and other members of the legal community working with internet and communications law or specifically data protection
- Members of law enforcement agencies who deal with internet issues
- The internet technical community, including those involved in the management of internet names and numbers, engineers, systems administrators, programmers and others involved in internet development, management and security
- Academic and research institutions that deal with data protection or data governance
- Media organisations and outlets that focus on data protection
- Individual bloggers and journalists who focus on internet or data governance and policy.
To apply, please complete the form here by 20 March 2025 at 23:59 UTC.
Cost
Participation in AfriSIG costs USD 2,000, which covers accommodation and tuition. Participants are responsible for their own travel costs, unless they are a beneficiary of a travel fellowship.
Applying for sponsorship
The AfriSIG organisers have limited support available for successful applicants. This support will cover the tuition fee and accommodation.
We also have a limited number of travel fellowships available.
Both self-funded and sponsored participants are encouraged to apply. All participants, even those who are self-funded, will be expected to attend for the duration of the school.
Please note that as part of the application, you will be required to answer a quick five-question quiz and upload a recent CV and a reference letter. For more information, visit the AfriSIG website www.afrisig.org or contact the AfriSIG organisers, Anriette Esterhuysen and Peace Oliver Amuge at afrisig@apc.org