Adeboye leads Paradigm Initiative’s program strategy, including driving PIN’s program direction and maximizing impacts. He has amassed massive expertise and skills in digital policy interventions, stakeholder engagements, capacity building, coalition building, and media campaigns in various roles at Paradigm Initiative in the past nine years. Adeboye led advocacy for the passage of the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill by Nigeria’s parliament.He is a fellow of the African School on Internet Governance and a fellow of the San Francisco-based Centre for Digital Policy and Artificial Intelligence. He’s a member of the Danish government’s Tech Advisory Council, A member of the Freedom Online Coalition currently led by the US government. He was a Twitter’s Human Rights Advisory Council member until December 2022. He has written several articles and authored many reports. He’s co-authored the Digital Rights in Africa report by Paradigm Initiative. Adeboye leads PIN’s digital rights engagement with policymakers, parliamentarians, and judicial officers in Africa. He’s facilitated training for judges, policymakers, and parliamentarians in Nigeria, Zambia, Chad, Tanzania, and Malawi. He’s consistently a featured guest on leading television stations such as Channels TV, ARISE TV, and TVC. He co-founded the Monkmedia Yellow Pages in 2006 as an undergraduate at Obafemi Awolowo University. He holds a master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa from the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, and a Bachelor of Science in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University. He also holds a professional public relations certificate and completed Public Policy courses at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Adetola Elizabeth Oyewo is a student mentor, Department of Public Governance, Westville Campus, University of Kwazulu-Natal. She is also a Research Assistant and Consultant, Brainstorm Consult, PTY, Durban, South Africa. She has educational background in educational administration and planning. She is currently a PhD Student, Department of Education, University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. She is Mozilla student ambassador. During the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps, she was the Editor-in-Chief, Esan West Youth Corpers Press Club in 2008 and produced the maiden edition of the youth Corpers magazine. She has quite a number of research publication. She is affiliated to organizations as the Institute for Justice & Reconciliation, International Aids Society(IAS), Internet Society, International Society for Third-Sector Research, USA and SAIIA (South African Institute of International Affairs).

Aicha, from Tunisia, belongs to Academia,  holds a master degree  in International Relations,  wearing at the same time civil society hat. She is actually Hivos and Diplo Alumni, and an active member with Hivos, in iGmena program, which deals with Internet Governance in Mena region. Her activities involve writing content about Internet governance related topics, report local events, conduct hang up sessions that host key actors and experts in this field, or also hubs and, have radio sessions, helps organize local events. She is newly elected as a Member of North African IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group. She is furthermore a researcher in Jasmin Foundation, a think tank, working to produce policy papers, about several key social/economic issues. Her activities include volunteering in Humanitarian compaigns, launched by Afreecan, a Tunisian association acting locally to promote education quality in rural areas of the country. She loves listening to music, reading and is fond of collecting books.

Currently working in the Department of the Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation as Deputy Director at the Central Information System Division, Aneerav holds an MBA and a PhD in Computer Science. He undertook his postdoctoral research at the Indian Institute of Technology in India. He has 27 years of experience in the ICT sector. During this period, he held several responsibilities among others as Programmer, Systems Analyst and Project Manager, as well as the management and implementation of e-Government projects. He has a rich experience in the ICT sector in the Mauritian Government and had exposure in academia providing lectures and supervising Master’s degree and PhD students. He is keen in research studies in the fields of eGovernment, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Translation and Project Management with numerous publications in these area.

Arsene has been working and collaborating for the past 5 years on projects related to Internet governance, child online protection, and women’s participation in ICT. He has either conducted or supported research projects, such as the CIPESA’s State of Internet Freedom 2016, documenting violations happening online such as Internet shut downs, censorship, human rights violations, etc in his country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is a well known Congolese online activist based in Goma (Eastern DRC), followed for his regular posts on social media and blogs on politics, social life and everything related to human rights violations happening offline or online. Arsene has attended and contributed either as a participant or a speaker at a number of UN’s annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) including as an Internet Society Ambassador (in 2015 and soon in 2016) on regional and international levels; has attended ICANN meetings as an ICANN Fellow and a number of other ICT-related events in Africa and worldwide. He is Co-founder and Executive Director of Rudi International, organization dealing, among others, with bringing ICT-related debates close to the youth in Congo and is currently serving as Co-Coordinator of the Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus (IGC). On Twitter.

Berhan is a Ford-Mozilla Open Web Fellow based at the Center for Intellectual Property and Information Technology (CIPIT) at the Strathmore Law School in Nairobi, Kenya. Her research focuses on internet shutdowns and internet freedom in East Africa. She is a social justice activist, a peace studies practitioner, and an avid advocate for open data and the open web. Berhan previously worked at a Conflict Early Warning and Early Response Center mitigating violence in East Africa; has also conducted research on transitional justice and criminal violence at the University of Notre Dame, consulted for intergovernmental bodies in Addis Ababa and Nairobi, and engaged legislative processes related to land rights in Cape Town. (Photo by Matt Cashore University of Notre Dame)

Carine is from Cameroon. She is a militant and ICT4D (Information and Communication Technologies for Development)  volunteer at PROTEGE QV, an association involved in ICT development in Cameroon.  She is interested by the Ict avaibility, management  and uses,  that’s why she’s proud to attend this year’s AFRISIG in Durban. During this training, she hopes to learn more about internet governance and to know more about internet security. In addition to this, she also works as a spanish teacher for secondary school students in a government school.

After working in providing connectivity to remote health care centres in Latin America, Carlos has devoted the last eight years to studying, developing and supporting community networks around the world. As part of his PhD he co-founded Zenzeleni Networks, and studied the main drivers that could make a community network in rural South Africa sustainable and scalable. After obtaining his doctorate in 2015, he went and studied the common denominators across community networks in Africa, producing a seminal report on the topic, and co-organised the first five editions of the Summit on Community Networks in Africa. For the last four years, he has been with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), where he co-leads its community networks initiative, overseeing projects in Latin America, Africa and Asia. He also coordinates its policy and regulatory work to create a more enabling regulatory framework for local operators and community networks. As part of that, he has provided training to regional regulatory associations and policy makers in Africa, authored reports and written submissions to public consultations on the topic, and participated frequently as speaker and convener in internet governance and similar telecommunications policy forums.

Chaunoda is a lab demonstrator at the University of Botswana, department of computer science. Her previous professional experience includes; oracle database developer at De Chazal Du Mee consultancy, and a Linux administrator, while at De Chazal Du Mee Consultancy. Chaunoda graduated with a Postgraduate diploma in Education, and Bachelor degree in Computer Information Systems from the University of Botswana. She is also an Oracle Certified Professional (OCP), awarded after successful completion of database professional certificate. Among her continued devotion to community development and volunteer work, she formed an organization Tech Smartys, that focuses on inspiring and equipping young girls with the right mind-set of self-efficacy and technological tools to pursue careers in ICT related fields. She is currently the president of LEO Gaborone, organization that provides a platform for the youth to nurture their skills, talents and gain valuable management insights while making a positive impact on the society.

Christy is a feminist and life-long learner who thinks with her body. She is also recently the project coordinator for Women’sNet, South Africa, and insists that gender justice can prevail in spaces of tech. Before her position at Women’sNet, she was working at the African Centre for Cities as an assistant researcher on feminist engagements with housing struggles in the greater Cape Town area, as well as in communications as an editor, blog-writer, and social media manager for UrbanAfrica.net. Christy is currently completing her Masters in Inclusive Innovation at the Graduate School of Business in Cape Town. She is also a practitioner of capoeira and competitive jiu-jitsu, and continues to explore how authentically safe spaces for women in martial arts academies can be created and sustained on the African continent.

This International Consultant on issues related to development, from Senegal, holds of a PhD in geography (Geneva and Utrecht Universities) a bachelor in arts (Arabic) and a master degree in information systems. He has more than 18 years’ experience on Information and Communication Technologies development issues, including project and program management in developing countries (ICT and decentralization, digital education, e-waste management, etc.), advocacy, financing ICT for development, international negotiation’s, at UNITAR, the Digital Solidarity Fund, etc. and as Civil Society member. Cisse is the author of various publications on urban geography, transportation, ICT, Art issues. Since the early stages, Cisse has been involved in the World Summit on the Information Society process as founding member of various ICT NGO’s, African Diaspora ICT NGO’s Secretary General in Geneva, Vice-Chair and Chair of ACSIS: the Panafrican network on ICT4SD. Cisse speaks French, English, Arabic, Pulaar and Ouolof and a bit of Dutch.

Originally from Brazaville in Congo, she is a national champion of Internet Governance forum. Holder of a Bachelor degree in Marketing Management from the School of Management of Marien Ngouabi University. She now deals with social media and works with Azur Developpement, a humanitarian NGO, as Project assistant on New Technologies. She is also implicated in a project for girls’ empowerment through the use and the teaching of English at Innovator Ladies English Club (ILEC). Her hobbies include: chatting on social media as Facebook pages’ administrator and teaching English to girls of her English Center. On Twitter.

Elizabeth is an electronic entrepreneur with a deep passion for technology, and serves as the Programs Manager of Alibeth Consults which supports action by governments, social partners and the multilateral system to address the youth employment challenge and promote decent work for youth at national, regional and global levels, through use of ICTs. Elizabeth is intrigued by the power that technology has to transform the way business is done in Uganda and to change people’s lives. She is currently pursuing an MBA-International Business which will contribute to the strategy for positioning Alibeth Consults for the global market. She has various industry certifications from organizations such as the International Labor Organization, APMG UK and the John Hopkins and Bloomberg School of Public Health. Elizabeth’s vision of contributing to Uganda’s technological development and desire to disrupt things has also led her into the start-up scene and she is currently working with other young people across the region to build what they envision the future of East Africa to be; connected, African and smart. On Twitter.

Elmahjoub Dasaa is a Moroccan civil society activist, journalist and researcher in social media.  He works as an online journalist at Moroccan news outlet “Febrayer.com”. His works focuses on internet policies, social media, and countering violent extremism. Elmahjoub excels in publishing journalistic articles on internet policies or countering violent extremism. He has more than three years of experience in online journalism and is interested in two main fields: Internet governance, and social media. “He says AfriSIG 2016 ”  is  a suitable opportunity for him to broaden his knowledge about internet governance  issues within the African context and to share his experience with other participants.

Emmanuel Elolo Agbenonwossi is a Web-journalist and Internet Policy freelance researcher from Togo. He has been recently accepted as a member of the organising committee of Internet governance Forum in Togo as coordinator of communications. Based in Accra since 2014 and travelling extensively through Africa and Europe, he has been working as journalist and content manager for www.ghanaweb.com – the most popular African website in the world (Alexa Ranking).
He is a Veteran blogger of Radio France International and Editor in chief of www.ameroonweb.com. Internet Advocate and fan of High-tech, Emmanuel has realized many interviews with Africa’s heads of government, IT entrepreneurs, political and economic leaders. Emmanuel is a fellow of the IGF-Academy.

Evelyn is a technology start-up that is implementing technology interventions for social and humanitarian programs. Their flagship product, an electronic voucher system has been used by over fifteen thousand small holder farmers to redeem seed crops under a USAID program implemented by MercyCorps. She has previously worked as Regional Manager – East Africa for Beyonic Limited that offers a SaaS platform for organizations to help them move beyond cash to using electronic payments. She’s also held a role of Country Director for Solar Sister, a social enterprise that empowers women with economic opportunity using the breakthrough potential of solar technology. Evelyn is an Acumen East Africa fellow as well as an IDEX fellow (January 2015 class). She’s also an Internet Society Ambassador to the Internet Governance Forum for 2015 & 2016 and is passionate about tech innovations, entrepreneurship and women in technology. On Twitter.

Frederico Links is a Namibian journalist, researcher and freedom of expression advocate. As a researcher he is affiliated to Namibia's leading independent think-tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), where he coordinates a number of projects. In both his journalism and research, Links has a strong focus on good governance, human rights (including digital rights), corruption, rule of law, and transparency and accountability. For the IPPR, he is currently coordinating the 'Mainstreaming human rights in cybercrime law and policy making' project, which is a collaboration with international digital rights organisation Global Partners Digital (GPD).

He is also the coordinator of the Democracy Report project of the IPPR, which is funded by the Finnish Embassy in Namibia, and focuses on the activities and events happening in and around the Namibian parliament, as well as the Namibia Fact Check project, which verifies information and debunks online disinformation. Links also coordinates the Procurement Tracker Namibia project of the IPPR, which monitors public procurement. He is also involved as a fellow in the digital surveillance research project of the Media Policy and Democracy Project (MPDP) of the School of Communication, at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Furthermore, he coordinates a six-country southern Africa-focused digital rights project for the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), funded by the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA). Links is the founding and current chairperson of the Access to Information in Namibia (ACTION) Coalition of civil society and media organisations and social activists. He is also the founding and former chairperson of the Namibian Internet Governance Forum (NamIGF).

Originally from Banjul in Gambia is a graduate of the Gambia Press Union School of Journalism and a valedictorian. She is currently studying Law at the University of The Gambia. Because of her hard work and dedication to her studies as well as her impressive result of distinction from the course, she was appointed to work as a trainer at the Gambia Press Union School of Journalism. Haddija got a substantial experience in media work and coordinating activities over the years, as well as in managing many leadership positions such as coordinating the Gambia Press Union School of Journalism and serving as treasurer of the Gambia Press Union board and the youngest journalists to be elected on the board. She is also the deputy national coordinator of the Global Youth Initiative Network (GYIN) Gambia Chapter and the President of Debate Gambia Association. On Twitter and on Facebook.

Susan is a Technically astute person and has a keen interest in technology especially in how it can be used to address societal issues. She holds a BA in Social Sciences (Major in International Relations) and a Post Grad Diploma in Community Development. Currently, she works at Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) as a Program Assistant for Information Sharing and Networking Program. She is very passionate and  interested in how Nations relate in various spaces and in particular how women are included in them. On Twitter.

Irene is a hardworking woman and true African feminist who strongly believes that change starts with the self. She hails from Bugiri District in the Eastern Region of Uganda and is a holder of a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from Makerere University Uganda, a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre (Uganda) in addition to other certificate trainings in leadership, human rights and social media. Inspired by her passion for women’s rights, Irene  is currently the Communications & Advocacy Officer at Akina Mama wa Afrika, a Pan African feminist organisation based in Kampala Uganda; where she manages the organization’s communications & advocacy initiatives coupled with support in programming and project implementation. Over the past 12 years, Irene has accumulated vast experience in gender equality and human rights advocacy having served as the African Representative in Residence Manhattanville College New York USA (2005-2007). While in New York, Irene coordinated the Global Student Leadership Program (GSL) focused on empowering young women through leadership. She later relocated to University of Dar es salaam (UDSM) in 2007 where she supported the establishment of GSL African Program at the UDSM Gender Centre. From 2010-2012, Irene worked as the Leadership Program Coordinator at the Akilah Institute for Women in Kigali Rwanda where she managed  the Institute leadership programs, ensuring that the young women were well trained, confident and equipped with the necessary leadership skills and knowledge to lead and succeed in the Hospitality Industry. Irene possesses great facilitation, communication, and leadership skills; she aspires to become a Member of Parliament in the near future. She enjoys hanging out with friends and meeting new people. On Twitter.

Originally from the town of Bujumbura in Burundi,  he is a proud holder of a Bachelor Degree in Education Sciences at the University of Burundi since 2000. He has several professional attributes: works as a Consultant and is engaged in some non for profit organizations: ISOC Burundi Chapter as the Vice president. He is also a trainer in computing and internet policy, president of the network of community telecentres in Burundi (Réseau des Télécentres Communautaires du Burundi) and secretary general of the Burundi Youth Training Centre. Jean Paul has equally taken part in the organisation of IGF events in Burundi and at the East African level. He plays Volley Ball in his spare time and has a passion for Astronomy. On Twitter and on Facebook.

Joash holds a Bachelor in Applied Anthropology, Moi University, Eldoret and a Master’s in Governance and Regional Integration Pan African University, African Union Commission. He is a certified project in development professional (PMD Pro) with APMG International, US and Alumni of the International Global Leadership Institute. He was one of four Kenyans to be granted a scholarship in 2014 by the African Union Commission to undertake an Msc in Governance and Regional Integration at the Pan-African University (PAU). He is a seasoned analyst &researcher on issues of human rights, conflict, public policy and ICT policy from Nairobi, Kenya. He is a research fellow at the Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies in Kenya and a Fellow the Pan African University, Institute of Governance, Humanities and Social Science in Cameroon. He has been involved in ICANN Wiki Swahili Translation Project in East Africa focused on creating a pool of Swahili translators and contributors through capacity building sponsored by ICANNWiki (USA), University of Dodoma (Tanzania), and Centre for Youth Empowerment and Leadership (Kenya). Joash is a member of the Computer society of Kenya and ISOC Kenya. Joash is co-author  of ” Social Media and Public Policy Process in Africa: Enhanced Policy Process in Digital Age” published in the Academia Commons, Columbia University. He is currently developing a paper on telecommunication regulations in Kenya: An exploration into ICT Policy and Regulation Processes and AU e-government policy. He advocates for net neutrality, digital rights, gender and freedom of expression in the use of the internet. He has reported extensively on terrorism in Africa and has more than 11 publications in peer reviewed journals and research books. His interests include topics of Internet security, and governance, cyber-security, intelligence gathering, crime analysis and mapping, cyber diplomacy, counter-terrorism and security governance; trans-border security, digital rights and freedom of expression. He enjoys critical thinking, traveling, and article writing. On Twitter.

He's the Director of Regulation & HSE at Telecom Comores SA.‎ Graduated in Telecom Engineering, with a Master in ICT Regulation and a Master degree in Integration of ICT in Education. He's involved in the development of ICT sector in Comoros for more than 15 years, specifically for ‎the effective liberalisation of the ICT sector. His professional career extends from the Universities of Antananarivo and Comoros as Professor, IT Assistant at UNICEF Comoros, Head of departments at ICT Regulatory Authority, Coordinator of a WB program on infrastructures development and the establishment of a competitive ICT environment in Comoros, COMESA IT Technical Committee focal point, ITU Indicators and Statistics Consultant, Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) for Comoros at ICANN, WSA Expert for Comoros, Global integrity evaluator for Comoros Member of African School ‎on IG alumni, IG trainer with the PRIDA project, UN MAG IGF member, VP at ISOC Chapter Comoros.

From the Central Equatoria State of  South Sudan, Kenyi is a Lawyer, Human rights Activist and a Rotarian who has graduated from University of Juba with Bachelor of Laws Degree. He currently works as a Project Officer with Human Rights Development Organization. He has attended so many conferences that took him to India, Australia, Tanzania, and Kenya on professional field. He loves watching news on television and reading books.

Koliwe Majama is a Zimbabwean media, information, communications and technologies consultant with over 15 years of experience working in civil society lobbying and advocacy. As a trained journalist with a diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication, Koliwe has practiced as both a print and broadcast journalist in Zimbabwe. She also holds a Masters in Public policy and governance, a BSc in Media and Society Studies and is an AfriSIG alumnus. In the region and globally, Koliwe is invested in networking and thought leadership on varying internet governance trends, including gender and the internet – which she has a passion for. Currently, Koliwe works with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) the  AfriSIG organiser and Coordinator of the African Declaration on Internet and Freedoms Coalition.

Mauricia, from Cape Town in South Africa is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Child and Family Studies. She has a B.A Degree in Psychology, Women & Gender Studies and Language & Communication, as well as an Honours Degree in Psychology. She serves as Secretary-General at Waumbe Youth Development, is also an Innovation scholar at the National Research Foundation, a previous member of the Crafting Change Agents Program which focuses on international engagement in dialect on identity and race and a current team member of the South Africa – Washington International Program, a program geared at supporting young leaders for ethical servant leadership, her passion for the protection of human rights and youth development are evident. Finally, Mauricia is also an alumn of the summer internship program at the International Center for Missing and exploited children, an organisation dedicated to making the world a safer place for children by eradicating child abduction, sexual abuse and exploitation with specialized projects addressing child protection against cybercrime and legislation around data retention. On Twitter and on Facebook.

Nonhlanhla, based in Cape town, is also a popular education student, and a member of Toastmasters International. She holds a Social Science Masters Degree in Political Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She has over 8 years of advocacy and research experience on governance systems, participatory governance and strengthening of democratic institutions in particular, Parliament. As an activist with the Right to Know Campaign she is currently working on advocacy campaigns on access to information and free flow of information, right to communicate, right to protest, media freedom and diversity and secrecy and surveillance issues. She also serves in various NGO Boards where she contributes towards improving good governance systems within the NGO sector. Her hobbies include collecting books for her mini library project, running races, hiking and attending theatre performances. On Twitter.

Paul comes from the city of Kampala. He holds a Masters of Arts in Media and Communication Studies, from the University of Nairobi, Kenya; a Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Journalism from Makerere University, Uganda as well as a Bachelors of Mass Communication from Makerere University, Uganda. He has over 10 years’ experience in journalism, media development and human rights advocacy specializing in media policy and regulation, freedom of expression and digital rights. Previously, he worked with Panos Eastern Africa, Article 19 Eastern Africa, ActionAid and now he works with the African Centre for Media Excellence. He is the author of; Media Regulation and Practice in Uganda: A Journalists Handbook; and Djibouti: Media and the Law. He is a member of the Research steering committee for the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) – publishers of the State of Internet Freedom in Africa 2016. On Twitter.

Prudence has been an author at Global Voices since 2013, she runs a blog (prunyamishana.org), and is a founding partner of Kweeta Consulting Ltd. She has worked in the industry since 2010 and her experience covers communication, human rights and gender. With a wealth of experience, Prudence has worked with numerous organizations in and outside Uganda. She has consulted for a number of organizations including UN Women, Centre for Public Interest Law-Uganda, HIVOs – providing technical assistance to design media strategies. Prudence has spearheaded a number of online campaigns including, #ThisisFreedom, #StateofJudicuaryUG #EndpoliceBrutalityUG establishing herself as an influencer on the Ugandan online spaces.

Radwa is a graduate from the faculty of Economics and political science, Msc Euro_Med relationship about Access to information in Egypt. Her main interest is economic empowerment of the people. She participated in different international conferences and workshops to share experience and knowledge about how to make our countries better. She currently works as a researcher at General Authority for Investment, Alexandria. Attending AfriSIG will be her first time being in South Africa and she excited to know more about internet governance and the AfrSIG  experience.

Royden is a development practitioner and entrepreneur, who is Secretary of ISOC-Gauteng, HOD for Social and Economic Development (Ward 34 community) and CEO/Co-founder of SOWUG. Youth Parliament candidate for 2007 & 2008. He is also Co-founder and CEO of SOWUG (Soweto Wireless User Group), Co-Founder and Secretary of ISOC-Gauteng and Founder of Khurampa Trading enterprise (Pty) Ltd. He was named “Innovator of the month – August 2015” by Nanovation. He is a Public Finance and Accounting graduate from Tshwane University of Technology, certified in project management and strategic leadership and management. Trained at Procter and Gamble Innovation Centre, Belgium on market research, brand management and tracking amongst others. He was trained on a 6-months new venture creation programme called Youth and Graduates Entrepreneurship Programme (Y-Age) offered by SACCORD in partnership with Gauteng Provincial Government. He has worked as assistant market researcher for: South and East Africa for Procter and Gamble, for Umsobomvu Youth Fund – Government youth development initiative while engaged in a graduate development organisation (SAGDA). He is passionate about innovation, youth and community development & entrepreneurship, enjoys swimming, reading and meditating. On Twitter and on Facebook.

Samira graduated in Information Technology in 2011 after which she got a job with the Nigerian Communication’s Commission (NCC) which is an independent National Regulatory Authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. The Commission is responsible for creating an enabling environment for competition among operators in the industry as well as ensuring the provision of qualitative and efficient telecommunications services throughout the country and that was when she heard of the term ‘‘Internet Governance’’ for the first time. She worked in the New Media and Information Security Department, Internet Governance Unit. Joining the Nigerian Communications Commission exposed me to ‘‘Internet Governance’’ because she was opportune to attend a few IG related activities: The African Internet Summit in Djibouti, the Global IGF 2015 in Brazil, the African Internet Summit AIS’16, Gaborone, Botswana. She is also a member of the Nigerian Internet Governance Forum (Local Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Group) She partakes in the annual youth forum which serves as a pre-event and usually includes a workshop or hands-on training where youths are taught new technical skills. She believes that being involved in Internet Governance related activities, will give her the capacities to be able to make a positive difference in her immediate environment, Nigeria and Globally.

Samuel holds a BSc. Degree in Political Science from the University of Buea and a Professional Master’s Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy, specialising in International Communication and Public Action obtained from the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC). Presently Samuel is a Diplomat recently appointed Foreign Service Officer, Service head in Charge of Relations with West Africa, under the Department of African Affairs at the Ministry of External Relations in Cameroon. He likes creative writing, handball and is a fan of Manchester City. On Twitter.

Serge holds a master’s degree in Tele-Information and is currently completing another master’s degree in E-Service International. He is working as an IT-manager at Campus Numérique in Brazzaville, and as a substitute teacher at Marien Ngouabi University. He is also very active in the ICT community in Congo, has participated in building the Congolese code country top level domain .CG as a coordinator in the project of the Association Congolaise de Nommage Internet en Coopération (ACNIC ). He also works on building the Congo exchange point as an ISOC member. In 2008 he was a president of the youth chamber international Brazzaville leader;  he is leading the project “Peace is Possible” as a civil society activist.

With proven abilities in web development, project management, communications, and IT services, Sherifah is an enthusiastic and high-achieving IT professional with a Bachelor of Computer Science from Makerere University and various industry certifications from organizations such as Africa Network Operators Group and Microsoft. She is a certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt and a 2015 Mandela Washington Fellow. Sherifah is the CEO of Zimba Group, a startup tech company providing technical and software solutions for SME’s. Zimba Group Ltd.’s flagship project Zimba Women seeks to establish a business environment that provides full support of women entrepreneurs using technology. She is passionate about entrepreneurship in Africa and using technology to build strong SME’s. With over 8 years of technology experience, Sherifah is also the founder of thebabystoreug.com, the first specialty retail e-commerce site for baby products and apparel in Uganda. Prior to this, she worked for Wipro Technologies, a global information technology, consulting and outsourcing company as a Tools and Data Center Monitoring Team Lead. On Twitter.

Silas hold a Bachelor of Statistics Degree (Computing Option) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Science obtained from Makerere University. He also holds a Master of Business Administration (Financial and Computers Management) obtained from Cyprus Institute of Marketing. He is currently finalizing a Master of Science Degree in Data Communication and Software Engineering of Makerere University. He is currently employed by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology as an Assistant Commissioner in the department of Information Management Services. He is also a Board Member of the Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board (UBTEB). A body in charge of setting and marking certificate and diploma level examinations for technical, vocational and business courses in Uganda. Previously, he has worked as a Chief Technologist with Elixir Systems and as the IT Services Manager with the National Social Security Fund, Uganda where he began his career as a Programmer. He is a Rotarian and a Board Member of the Nsangi Rotary Club, 9211 District. He is always happy to provide service above self. On Twitter.

Sipho is a Computer Scientist with a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Pretoria. He has been working with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) since March 2008 as a Cybersecurity Analyst and Researcher working on Information security policy development, IT governance, Risk & Compliance, Network Security, Digital Forensics, Software Development and Pretoria. His recent focus has been on the establishment and operationalisation of the South African National Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), working closely with the national Department of Telecommunication and Postal Services (DTPS). I have recently completed the CSIRT training in Botswana which was provided by AfricaCERT. He is currently a Senior Cybersecurity Researcher at the CSIR, Defence Peace Safety and Security (DPSS) which is the main division for Cybersecurity and defence-related research in the CSIR. Has served in various national technical working Committes such the National e-Strategy at University of Pretoria led by the DTPS and the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) vulnerability management team. He has developed a number of RD&I processes and constantly published this at peer-reviewed national and international conferences and journals; Was also appointed as an assistant lecturer at the University of Pretoria, Computer Science Department, in 2015 and is currently a technical supervisor for Computer Science undergraduate students at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). He loves cricket, football and is currently coaching the CSIR soccer team. On Twitter.

Taenzaniswa Kennedy Mugochi is currently the Programme Development Manager responsible for Transparency and Accountability and Freedom of Expression at Hivos regional office for Southern Africa. He started his career as teaching assistant at the University of Zimbabwe. He later joined the NGO world working on issues of democracy, good governance and human rights in Zimbabwe as a researcher with Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. He holds a B.Sc. in Sociology and M.Sc. in Sociology and Social Anthropology both from the University of Zimbabwe. He is in the final stages of his PhD studies focusing on ‘Civil Society Advocacy and Impact Measurement’ with University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

In his late 20’s TIDJANI is already involved in varies roles on the internet governance in Chad among others: Communication Officer of the Executive Secretariat of IGF-Chad; Infrastructure Network Engineer to the cell network management Fiber Optical SOTEL-CHAD (Society of Telecommunications of Chad); Responsible for organization and implementation of Internet-projects for Internet Society Chad Chapter; General Secretary of IPV6 Task Force Chad. Tidjani has the ability to influence, motivate and involve different stakeholders, (including actors, and artists), he has done this severally in different projects he led for public awareness and knowledge promotion. He believes in himself and always strives for continued success topped up with hard work.

This human rights activist from Ghana holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree and Diploma and  in Communication Studies. She has been working for the past seven years as a Programme Officer for Freedom of Expression at the Media Foundation (MFWA) for West Africa, a regional independent non-governmental media development and freedom of expression advocacy organisation headquartered in Accra, Ghana. At the MFWA, Vivian is in charge of coordinating the organisation’s freedom of expression monitoring in West Africa. As part of her work, she highlights violations against journalists, activists and citizens in the form of daily, monthly and quarterly reports. Based on trends and severity of freedom of expression violations and state of safety of journalists in West Africa, she coordinates the organisation’s efforts in intervening in cases of violations against journalists by petitioning relevant national authorities (such as regulatory bodies, state officials, security agencies etc) and also regional and international bodies such as the ECOWAS, African Union, UN etc. She also manages the MFWA’s website, social media pages and previously worked with The Mail newspaper in  Ghana where she covered social issues. In her spare time she likes to surf the net and cook. On Twitter. Meet her on Facebook and Snapchat as Vivian Affoah.

Goretti holds a Masters in Arts in Agriculture and Rural Development, a Bachelors’ degree in Social Sciences, Economics and Rural Economy and a Post Graduate Diploma in Gender and Local Economic Development. She is a Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) Certified trainer by ILO and a Mentor, and has fifteen years of working with Civil Society Organizations. She currently works as a Program Manager for the Gender and ICT Policy Advocacy program at the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET). She is a gender and technology advocate, with specialty in rural development, ICT4D, Policy Advocacy, gender, women rights and Entrepreneurship. She currently spearheads a campaign to mainstream gender in ICT Policies and programs in Uganda. She is also a coordinator of ICT in governance and accountability projects based in Eastern and Northern Uganda and entrepreneurship. Goretti has wide experience in Using ICTs for development both in rural and urban areas and for the last 14 years has developed and implemented ICT for development projects, and also led a campaign of integrating gender into ICT policies and programs.