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This year, I had the privilege of participating in the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG2024) as a fellow. AfriSIG is a unique platform that brings together stakeholders across Africa to explore and tackle some of the continentā€™s most pressing internet governance challenges.

AfriSIG 2024 brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, and the discussions were nothing short of amazing. We discussed:

  • Data governance and the complex landscape of digital trade and data governance: Exploring the African Continentalā€¦ Read more

The world has truly become a global village, interconnected by digital technologies and the internet. As new technologies reshape our globe, Africa finds itself at the heart of an evolving digital transformation. This shift highlights the critical need for robust data governance as the continent embraces its digital economy aspirations.

In November 2024, I had the privilege of participating in the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG24) held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Organised by the Association for Progressive Communications (ā€¦ Read more

Introduction

From 14 to 19 November 2024, I had the incredible privilege of attending the 12th African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG24) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This immersive experience brought together an inspiring group of professionals from across Africa and beyond, representing civil society, government, academia, business and the technical community. Together, we engaged in thought-provoking conversations about Africaā€™s digital future, diving into topics like internet governance, data protection, cybersecurity, and theā€¦ Read more

In the cool embrace of November, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, played host to the 12th African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG24) from 14 to 19 November 2024. Against the city's unique high altitude and cultural richness, AfriSIG24 brought together passionate voices from across the continent, offering a transformative platform for dialogue, learning and collaboration on Africaā€™s digital future. Organised by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), this prestigiousā€¦ Read more

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) defines internet governance as the development and application by governments, the private sector and civil society of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the internet.1 The internet is a network of autonomous networks of computing devices, which share the same core protocols enabling them to interoperate regardless of the endpoint applications and devices.2

Governance, most simply defined, is a form of control to ensure organisations, communities or societiesā€¦ Read more

Negative.

Thatā€™s the ultimate effect in one word!

Social media taxes are taxes charged for the use of social media platforms. We have seen their implementation in a few African countries, including Uganda ($0.05 per day), Tanzania ($0.05) and, for a brief time, Benin. Similar taxes have also been proposed in Zambia ($0.03). The motivations behind this policy are multiple and layered; some governments are attempting to silence their opposition and those who support them, while others are using this tax as a way to make money.

What does this doā€¦ Read more

What is the internet we want? This was a question posed by one of the panels at the 7th African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF), held from the 4-6 November 2018 in Khartoum, Sudan. The question is increasingly important as the development of cybercrimes and cybersecurity legislation becomes a priority for many African governments. The 2014 African Union Convention on Cyberspace Security and Protection of Personal Data or ā€œMalabo Conventionā€ represents political commitment by African states to take measures on a range of issues, including cybercrime. While ratification of the conventionā€¦ Read more

In 2014, the African Union Commission (AUC) adopted the Malabo Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection in order to provide fundamental principles and guidelines, ensure the effective protection of personal data and create a safe digital environment for citizens as well as protect individualsā€™ online data and privacy.

However, unlike the European Unionā€™s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the African Union (AU) Convention is not automaticallyā€¦ Read more

Africaā€™s quest to counter fake news, which could also be described as a ā€œfear of criticismā€, has become increasingly problematic in light of the recent creation of vague laws to address this challenge. The big men of Africa are absolutely terrified of criticism and now, more than ever, they are being hit with the epiphany of how powerful a weapon the internet is. Citizens no longer have to march through the streets to strike against what they deem unfair; they have a collective voice through the internet. With the current revolution taking place on Twitter, through hashtags and the like,ā€¦ Read more

Something historic happened by the Nile earlier this month. From 4-6 November 2018, at Corinthia Hotel Khartoum by the banks of that gargantuan and historic river which traverses the African continent, stakeholders from across the continent and the world gathered to participate in the African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF).

The setting of the AfIGF by the Nile was perhaps figurative. As a colleague mentioned to me, ā€˜ā€™Oh, you attended the AfIGF by that very contentious river.ā€ By that, he was referring to plans by several nations upstream the Nile to dam it, for purposesā€¦ Read more