AfriSIG

The community of the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) has lost a mentor and trainer following the death of faculty member Makane Faye in a road traffic accident in Senegal on Friday, 26 March 2021, while he was travelling to Dakar from the holy city of Touba.

Makane’s death has left a huge void as he was a trainer par excellence and indeed a larger-than-life figure in the careers of his many fellows during his years at AfriSIG. He was a member of the School’s faculty specialising in the theoretical and practical multistakeholder approaches to internet governance. He… Read more

I have always been of the opinion that POLICY IS BORING, I say this every time I have the opportunity to be at gatherings where policy discussions, especially tech/internet  policies are held and I also ask myself all of these times, what can I do to make these conversations more interesting to the people who the outcomes of these conversations will benefit the most?  Getting accepted into the 7th African School on Internet Governance held from the 4th to 9th September 2019 in N'… Read more

The sixth African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG), organised by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and the African Union Commission (AUC), was attended by 35 fellows and 26 faculty members from different countries who came together for five days to brainstorm, teach, learn, network, dialogue and exchange ideas about issues related to internet governance on a global, regional and local level.

When I got the mail from the AfriSIG organisers confirming that my application was successful, I was super excited. I started packing my bag a week prior to the school.… Read more

My interest in internet governance issues was sparked when I coordinated a project on internet access for women in northern Nigeria in 2016 with the ultimate goal of bridging gender digital exclusion and promoting greater access to the use and benefits of internet to women.

Following this experience, I began to apply to participate in internet governance forum events. Initially, I had little success, but my dream eventually came to fruition in August 2018 when I received an invitation to the 2018 African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG). When I first heard about AfriSIG, I was… Read more

Dear AfriSIG Class of 2018,

My name is Chenai Chair and I work for Research ICT Africa. Three years ago, I caught a flight for the first time to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, excited and nervous to be joining the AfriSIG/gigX class of 2015. The Gender and Internet eXchange (gigX) was the inaugural meeting that invited those who worked on gender to chart the course of internet governance from a feminist perspective.

I knew no other student in the programme, but at the end of it I walked out with friends, mentors and a recurring… Read more

Are you a current or potential leader in internet governance forums and debates in Africa?

Do you want to deepen your understanding of the “multistakeholder” approach to internet-related policy making?

Whether you are a policy maker, a researcher, a regulator, an engineer, a journalist, an entrepreneur or a gender equality and human rights defender – if you care about internet policy in Africa, AfriSIG is for you!

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and the African Union Commission are pleased to announce the call for applications for the sixth… Read more

Attending the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) is my first experience in any event related to internet governance. This has given me the opportunity to interact with different stakeholders from all walks of life and I enjoyed it.

The school was generally good and constituted a very active and enthusiastic class that inspired participants and resource persons to reason things out together. I liked the diversity of the class, not only from a regional perspective but also from the different professional backgrounds.

Most participants were not new to the internet… Read more

I am a young woman who grew up in the rural areas of Limpopo in South Africa, where there is not much development done, internet is regarded as a luxury, and technology is not exposed. It has therefore been much of a privilege for me to be a participant at the 5th African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG).

In Limpopo, many people have different technological gadgets but use them in a way that is not necessarily beneficial to them. Many people have mobile phones in these rural areas; however, there are times when they do not even have network coverage. And without this network… Read more

My debut appearance at the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) 2017 was certainly an eye opener in respect of a lot of very important issues related to internet governance, without doubt one of best spaces to start engaging with internet governance issues on continental level.

Distinctively, AfriSIG is a rich melting-pot of professional backgrounds, nationalities, ages, expertise and many other persuasions. This in my view made for very rich ground for networking and getting a multidimensional feel of internet governance issues across Africa under one roof.

But by… Read more

Taking part in the 5th African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) taught me the definition of internet governance, which is defined as the handling of technical coordination required for and policy issues related to the interoperability and smooth functioning of the different components of internet infrastructure and the exchange of information over the internet.

The knowledge I acquired

I was able to understand that:

  • There are established cybersecurity policies and laws at the international level, and yet the majority of African states do not… Read more