Africa Internet Governance Forum 2025

This session seeks to discuss the trends and findings from Paradigm Initiative’s Digital Rights and Inclusion in Africa Report (Londa), unveiling a new Score Index that digital rights actors can use to assess the compliance of African countries to the African Commission on Human and People's Rights' Declaration on Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information. The Declaration outlines key principles and standards regarding these rights stating the role of governments in upholding digital freedoms. The report investigates violations, makes recommendations and offers an opportunity for the digital rights advocates to keep a record of violations and developments. The report also offers an opportunity for governments to reflect on their policies and actions. The report acts as a shadow report to the ACHPR Special Rapporteur’s reports to the African Commission by analysing national digital rights and inclusion legislation, policies and practices within 27 countries in Africa, monitoring their compliance with freedom of expression and access to information standards. The session will provide a comparative analysis of the scores of 27 countries in Africa and how they faired with respect to digital rights compliance in 2024. The session will assess policy adoption and implementation across the 27 countries. The session will be conducted in an interactive format to allow attendees to reflect on their countries' policy priorities and overall performance based on the index. During the session, attendees will make inputs to an interactive map that shows their location and issues identified. The session will seek to discuss how stakeholders can champion digital rights and combat threats given the findings from research.

Session Objectives:
To assess 27 states’ compliance to the ACHPR’s Declaration on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information.
To spotlight areas of improvement for countries in Africa

Target Audience
The session targets policymakers, regional and national regulators and digital rights advocates._x000D_

The session seeks to address the following questions:
How can the newly unveiled Score Index, assessing compliance with the ACHPR Declaration, be effectively integrated into national and regional monitoring mechanisms?
What specific legislative and policy reforms are needed in the 27 African countries analysed to align with the ACHPR Declaration's freedom of expression and access to information standards?
How can the Global Digital Compact be effectively implemented at the national and regional levels to address the digital rights threats and widening divides highlighted in the Londa Report?

Democratic processes, especially free and fair elections, face a growing threat from disinformation. While complex, this issue is significantly driven by the design of commercial digital platforms—their attention-maximizing algorithms and targeted advertising systems are exploited by malicious actors and amplified by generative AI to manipulate public discourse.

Countering this requires not only promoting access to information as a public good but also enabling its effective use. Disinformation often thrives on low literacy and unequal access, but a further challenge lies in translating available data into actionable public knowledge. This necessitates robust collaboration among diverse stakeholders – fact-checkers, media, researchers, and civil society – to analyse data and make it accessible, fostering informed citizenship. Legal frameworks supporting data access and free expression, such as those in Africa, are foundational but require stronger implementation.
To proactively address these challenges, RIA and IMS are dedicated to building stakeholder coalitions capable of defending information integrity. This session aims to identify specific threats within the African information landscape and forge collaborative partnerships prepared to safeguard the electoral environment.

This session forms part of RIA and IMS's participatory research on effective media coalitions during elections, employing threat identification mapping similar to successful work during the recent Ghanaian elections. The findings will inform ongoing tracking, analysis, and research reporting.
The session also aims to contribute to stakeholder dialogues and a coordinated response to issues of electoral disinformation and information disorders broadly. We aim to awareness and build new alliances and networks on mitigating information disorders. RIA and IMS will publicize the session on organisation social media platforms as well as share a post session report capturing key issues from the session discussions.

The Africa Youth Internet Governance Forum (Africa Youth IGF) is a continental collective Platform of young people in a dynamic and influential network dedicated to shaping and empowering Africa's digital future. With a diverse membership spanning the northern, eastern, southern, and western regions of the continent, this platform brings together over 200+ passionate young leaders from all 54 countries. Together, they channel their collective creativity and innovation to drive positive change and ensure a vibrant digital landscape across Africa. Under the banner of strong multistakeholderism and Internet Governance.

As the continent undergoes rapid digital transformation, youth are at the heart of technological innovation, policy advocacy, and grassroots solutions. The African Union’s Agenda 2063 envisions a prosperous and digitally inclusive Africa, and its Digital Transformation Strategy (2020-2030) highlights the need for youth engagement to drive the continent’s digital future. However, persistent challenges such as unequal access to digital infrastructure, cybersecurity threats, limited digital literacy, and governance gaps continue to hinder Africa’s ability to maximize digital opportunities.

Young people, who constitute the majority of Africa’s population, must be equipped with the knowledge, tools, and networks to lead this transformation. The Africa Youth IGF provides a space where youth voices influence policy discussions and ensure that Africa’s digital policies are inclusive, ethical, and responsive to emerging challenges. This year’s theme, “Empowering Youth to Promote Africa’s Digital Future,” underscores the urgent need to strengthen youth-led digital solutions, increase capacity building, and advocate for equitable digital policies that align with the AU’s vision for a connected and prosperous Africa.

OBJECTIVES:
- Promote meaningful youth participation in global digital governance: Bridge the gap between African youth and global policy forums to ensure their perspectives shape international digital policies.
- Drive sustainable and inclusive digital growth: Align Africa’s youth digital agenda with the AU’s broader vision for a resilient, inclusive, and innovation-driven economy.
- Address critical barriers facing African youth, such as limited access to digital skills, underrepresentation in governance, and inadequate funding and limited support for innovation, to ensure their full participation in the continent’s digital transformation.
- Strengthen the role of African youth in shaping policies that drive digital innovation and economic growth.

TIME (UTC+3)| SESSION
09:00 - 09:30 | REGISTRATION
09:30 - 10:00 | Welcome Remarks
10:00 - 10:20 | Keynote / Goodwill Message
10:20 - 10:30 | Karibu IGF: Umoja wa Mitandao Yetu: Igniting Africa’s United Internet Journey
10:30 - 11:00 | TEA BREAK
11:00 - 12:00 | SESSION 1: Digital Identity & Borderless Opportunity: What Every African Youth Should Know About Digital IDs and the AfCFTA
12:00 - 13:00 | IGF 2025 YOUTH TRACK WS II - Content online moderation on Social media
13:00 - 14:00 | LUNCH BREAK
14:00 - 15:00 | SESSION 4: Youth and MPs: Intergenerational Dialogue on Digital Governance
15:00 - 15:30 | REFRESHER SPACE ( VIDEO PROJECTION) - COFFEE BREAK
15:30 - 16:30 | SESSION 3: BREAKOUT DISCUSSION
- TRACK I - Open Source & AI
- TRACK II - Digital Rights & Digital Inclusion
16:30 - 17:00 | Closing Ceremony - Road to Global IGF

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF), convened annually by the UN Secretary-General, is a global multistakeholder platform that facilitates discussions on Internet and digital public policy issues. This year, Norway will host the United Nations 20th Internet Governance Forum (IGF 2025) under the overarching theme “Building Digital Governance Together”.

The African IGF (AfIGF) is a regional IGF initiative dedicated to fostering exchanges within the region on relevant digital policy topics. In recent years, the IGF has sought to strengthen the participation of parliamentarians in discussions on some of the most pressing issues related to the use, evolution and governance of the Internet and related digital technologies at the global and regional Forums.

Building on Parliamentary Track experiences at the African IGF since 2022 and under the overarching theme “Parliamentarians Empowering Africa’s Digital Future”, dedicated sessions for parliamentarians from across the African region will be held again at the African IGF 2025 in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

The activities will facilitate dialogue and exchanges on key digital policy issues among Members of Parliaments (MPs), and between MPs and other stakeholders from within and beyond the African continent. Focus will be given to the Parliamentarians of information and communication technology (ICT) related committees at the national or regional parliaments, who work on digital affairs and Internet policy issues.

Objectives:
1. Familiarize MPs with the IGF space and the broader international ecosystem for Internet governance and digital policy. Encourage them to actively contribute to relevant regional and international processes.
Prepare MPs for participation in the IGF 2025 meeting and the dedicated Parliamentary Track, as well as future IGF meetings and activities.
2. Update MPs on a set of Internet governance and digital policy issues relevant to African countries. Facilitate dialogue on these issues with other parliamentarians, as well as with relevant international and regional organisations from different stakeholder groups (intergovernmental organisations, the technical community, private sector, civil society).
3. Discuss the relevance of legislative work in shaping a digital future in the region. Highlight issues that need to be considered when legislation for the digital space is developedFacilitate cooperation and exchanges of good practices with MPs from national and regional parliaments, as well as parliaments from other regions, which have advanced legislative work on digital policy issues.
4. Expose the MPs to relevant internet governance processes (e.g., WSIS+20 review process, the Global Digital Compact) and other UN flagship initiatives.
Collaborators
The IGF Secretariat is collaborating on the regional Parliamentary Track with several partners, including the the African Union, the GIZ, UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG), and the African Parliamentary Network on Internet Governance (APNIG).

Participation
This session does not include public remote participation.

Across Africa, the internet holds enormous potential to empower voices, enable democratic participation, and drive social change. Yet for many women and marginalized groups, digital spaces have become increasingly dangerous. The rise of Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV); including online harassment, cyberstalking, non-consensual image sharing, deepfake attacks, and targeted disinformation—poses a direct threat to freedom of expression, political participation, mental health, and digital inclusion.

TFGBV is not just a gender issue, it is a governance failure, a cybersecurity risk, and a trust crisis. It thrives in environments where platforms lack accountability, laws are outdated or absent, and survivor-centered systems are underdeveloped. Its impact is not only personal, it shapes public discourse, erodes civic trust, and pushes women out of digital and political spaces.

This session brings TFGBV into the heart of the Internet Governance Forum agenda. It will examine how digital violence manifests across African contexts, why responses remain inadequate, and what is needed to build resilient, inclusive, and rights-respecting digital ecosystems. The session will draw on the expertise of legal actors, digital rights defenders, technologists, policymakers, and those directly impacted by online violence.

Rationale
TFGBV is a growing digital threat across Africa, silencing voices, deepening inequality, and undermining participation in civic and political life. Despite its scale, TFGBV remains overlooked in cybersecurity and internet governance frameworks, with limited legal protections and inadequate platform accountability. Addressing TFGBV is not just about safety, it’s about upholding rights, building digital trust, and ensuring inclusive access. This session brings TFGBV to the forefront of digital governance, calling for coordinated, survivor-centered responses to make Africa’s digital spaces safe and empowering for all.
Together, they will identify strategies to
1. Embed protection against TFGBV in cybersecurity and digital safety frameworks;
2. Advance multistakeholder collaboration for prevention, mitigation, and redress;
3. Design inclusive, survivor-informed solutions that center trust, justice, and dignity.

Session Objectives
1. Highlight the forms, drivers, and impact of TFGBV in African digital ecosystems;
2. Identify gaps in legal, institutional, and platform responses;
3. Showcase survivor-centered, context-aware approaches to digital safety;
4. Encourage multistakeholder actions to address TFGBV in internet governance discussions;
5. Promote alignment with cybersecurity, trust, and digital cooperation frameworks

Expected Outcomes
1. A shared set of recommendations for integrating TFGBV into internet governance and digital safety agendas;
2. Strengthened partnerships between gender rights defenders, digital policymakers, and tech stakeholders;
3. Documentation of best practices and survivor-informed strategies for response and prevention;
4. Increased recognition of TFGBV as a cybersecurity and trust issue, not just a social or gender issue.

Session Description:
While digital transformation continues to reshape societies, marginalized communities in Africa often remain excluded from the benefits of secure digital practices. These communities face unique challenges, such as limited access to resources, low levels of digital literacy, and exposure to cyber threats. Despite efforts to raise awareness, a critical gap persists in embedding sustainable digital security practices tailored to the realities of these communities._x000D_
This interactive workshop will move beyond theoretical awareness to practical implementation. Participants will explore innovative strategies, grassroots-led initiatives, and actionable tools designed to integrate digital security into the daily lives of underserved populations. Through hands-on demonstrations and real-world case studies, this session will provide a platform to share experiences, foster collaboration, and equip attendees with a framework to address digital security challenges at the local level.

Key Objectives:

1. Identify Barriers: Explore the unique challenges marginalized communities face in adopting secure digital practices.
2. Share Innovations: Present creative, low-cost solutions and tools that align with the specific needs of these communities.
3. Empower Grassroots Organizations: Highlight the pivotal role of grassroots organizations in promoting localized digital safety initiatives.
4. Provide Practical Frameworks: Equip participants with tools and frameworks to build localized, sustainable digital security programs.

Expected Outcomes:
Participants will leave with:

1. A deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities in embedding digital security practices in marginalized communities.
2. Exposure to innovative tools and methods tailored to underserved populations.
3. A framework for implementing sustainable digital security programs.
4. Enhanced collaboration between grassroots organizations, policymakers, and digital rights advocates to drive community-centric digital safety initiatives.

Target Audience:

1. Grassroots organizations working with underserved communities.
2. Digital rights advocates.
3. Policymakers focused on inclusivity and digital transformation.
4. Educators and trainers in the digital literacy space.
5. Technologists interested in accessible and localized digital security solutions.

The Mano River Union (MRU) region—comprising Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire—faces significant digital connectivity challenges due to fragmented digital systems that hinder regional economic integration, creating barriers to cross-border trade, financial transactions, and public service delivery. Unlike other African sub-regions with harmonized digital public infrastructure (DPI) strategies, the MRU region lacks interoperable solutions, making mobile money transactions costly, e-governance services inaccessible across borders, and regional data-sharing inefficient. This Lightning Talk highlights the urgent need for a unified DPI framework, focusing on cross-border mobile money interoperability to enhance financial inclusion, e-governance and data-sharing frameworks for seamless digital IDs and trade, and lessons from successful regional DPI initiatives such as the Smart Africa Alliance, UEMOA, and the East African Community. As Africa moves towards a digitally connected future, the MRU region cannot afford to be left behind; this session will explore policy recommendations, private sector engagement, and regional collaboration to accelerate digital transformation for borderless economic growth while addressing existing infrastructure gaps, proposing harmonization strategies, and calling on governments, telecom operators, and regional bodies to foster a unified digital economy for inclusive digital development in West Africa.

Aims and Objectives
This Lightning Talk aims to:

1. Highlight the challenges of fragmented digital public infrastructure (DPI) in the Mano River Union (MRU) region—Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire.
2. Advocate for interoperable DPI solutions that enable seamless cross-border financial transactions, e-governance services, and data-sharing frameworks.

Expected Outcomes
By the end of this session, participants will:

1. Gain insights into the current DPI challenges affecting cross-border connectivity in the MRU region.
2. Understand the benefits of harmonized digital public infrastructure, including enhanced financial inclusion, e-governance, and regional trade facilitation.
3. Identify policy and technical strategies to develop interoperable DPI frameworks in MRU countries.
4.  Engage in discussions on collaboration between governments, private sector, and development partners to advance digital transformation.

Justification
The MRU region lags behind other African sub-regions in harmonizing digital public infrastructure, creating barriers to financial inclusion, trade, and digital public services. Without interoperable DPI, citizens and businesses struggle with costly mobile transactions, lack of cross-border e-governance services, and weak digital connectivity. This session is crucial as it:

1. Aligns with Africa’s digital transformation goals, contributing to AfCFTA’s vision of a borderless digital economy.
2. Addresses a regional gap often overlooked in continental discussions on digital public infrastructure.
3. Proposes tangible solutions by drawing from successful DPI models in other African regions.
4. Encourages multi-stakeholder action towards DPI harmonization for a more inclusive and connected West Africa.
5. Join this session to explore how DPI can unlock borderless connectivity and drive digital inclusion in the MRU region!

This event will feature the official launch of the Tanzania Readiness Assessment Report, a key milestone marking Tanzania’s commitment to fostering ethical, inclusive, and human-centered AI development in line with international standards and national priorities, including the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI._x000D_

The session will present the findings of Tanzania’s readiness assessment, conducted using UNESCO’s Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM)—a comprehensive, participatory tool designed to help Member States evaluate their national capacities and identify gaps in the governance, development, and deployment of artificial intelligence. Developed as part of the implementation of the 2021 Recommendation on the Ethics of AI—the first global normative instrument in this field—the RAM enables evidence-based policymaking and fosters alignment with human rights, sustainability, and fairness in AI systems.

Drawing on best practices from previous RAM launches in countries such as Brazil, Ghana, Morocco, and Mexico, this session will showcase the collaborative process that informed Tanzania’s report. It will highlight key insights on policy and regulatory frameworks, education and research ecosystems, data and infrastructure readiness, and ethical considerations in AI design and deployment.

Participants will hear from national stakeholders, lead consultants, and UNESCO representatives, who will discuss how the report’s findings can inform strategic planning, capacity building, and multi-stakeholder engagement going forward. The event will also spotlight how the RAM process strengthens national ownership of AI governance, while fostering regional and international cooperation on ethical AI.

This launch represents a pivotal step in Tanzania’s journey toward responsible AI innovation—rooted in equity, transparency, and the protection of human dignity.

Moderator: Rosanna Fanni, Ethics of AI Unit, UNESCO HQ
Speakers:
- TBC, Government of Tanzania
- TBC, UNESCO National Commission, Tanzania
- Ngandeu Ngatta Hugue, Unit Head/Programme Specialist
Social and Human Sciences, UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa
- Essa Mohamedali (Tanzania RAM consultant)
- Dr Neema Nduma (Tanzania RAM consultant)
- TBC, African Union

Participation
This session does not include public remote participation.

In a time when the internet is no longer just a medium for communication, but a marketplace, a school, a hospital, and a government office—the foundational question becomes: who owns the infrastructure of trust? As Africa builds its digital future, the most crucial architecture is not just bandwidth, but Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)—systems that are open, interoperable, inclusive, and purpose-built for enabling value creation at scale.

This lightning talk shines a spotlight on the nature of open platforms and how they form the backbone of a new African economy. It explores the internet not as a static network, but as a platform of platforms—supporting value exchange, coordination, and innovation. In this evolving digital economy, public digital infrastructure is not just a state obligation, but a shared responsibility of netizens, raising an urgent philosophical question: Who is the African netizen in the blockchain era? What does autonomy look like in a distributed financial future?

Taking Moja Loop and Tanzania’s Instant Payment System (TIPS) as practical case studies, the session explores how digital finance can drive financial inclusion, bypassing the limitations of traditional banking systems. TIPS, operating over active cellular networks and leveraging a unified payment interface, has created a layer of real-time digital trust—giving rise to accessible, scalable, and low-cost payment rails for underserved populations. Through open APIs and interoperable infrastructure, these platforms have turned mobile connectivity into economic agency.

Yet, inclusion is not a guarantee—it is a design choice. The value of the digital economy grows exponentially, but so do its risks, particularly when infrastructure is gated, proprietary, or optimized for exclusion. Without strong public digital infrastructure and universal access, the internet becomes not a highway of value, but a terrain of extraction.

This session builds a powerful case for treating digital finance as a public utility, underpinned by open standards, accountable governance, and citizen-centric design. It touches on:
• How Africa’s digital finance landscape is growing—from peer-to-peer transactions to decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions
• Why interoperability is the key to inclusive economic networks
• The role of DPI in enabling innovation across education, health, taxation, and social protection
• Risks of platform capitalism without public safeguards
• The future of the internet as a civic space that empowers through infrastructure, not just apps
Ultimately, the lightning talk issues a call to action: for Africa to protect and promote the internet as a public good. The infrastructure of trust must be open, sovereign, and rooted in equity—because inclusion is not a byproduct of digital progress; it is the purpose.

Participation
This session does not include public remote participation.

1) Day Zero: Data Governance Simulation Proposal
This closed interactive workshop on Day Zero puts Africa Data Leadership Initiative (ADLI) participants in the driver's seat of data governance decision-making through an immersive role-playing simulation, following a six week virtual learning journey which started in April 2025. Participants are from Ghana, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Somalia. During this in-person simulation, participants will role play as key stakeholders in a dynamic data ecosystem where they must navigate the complex tensions between innovation potential and protection requirements.

The simulation unfolds across three evolving scenarios from initial data sharing proposals through unexpected crises to long-term governance frameworks. Participants make consequential decisions with immediate feedback on how their choices impact innovation opportunities, protection effectiveness, public trust, and cross-sector collaboration.
Unlike theoretical discussions, this hands-on experience reveals how different stakeholders approach the same data challenges through different lenses. Participants negotiate competing interests, forge strategic alliances, and develop practical governance solutions while experiencing firsthand the difficult trade-offs inherent in responsible data use.
Followed by an expert discussion connecting simulation insights to real-world practices, participants leave with concrete strategies for balancing competing data priorities, crisis management techniques, and governance frameworks they can immediately apply in their organizations.

Learning objectives:
1.Experience firsthand the competing interests in data governance.
2.Practice balancing innovation potential with necessary protections
3.Develop practical approaches to multi-stakeholder data collaboration
4.Understand how governance decisions impact various stakeholders differently

2. Scenario: Detailed structure
2.1 Welcome & framing the discussion  
2.2 Setup & stakeholder immersion _

Stakeholder profiles :
1. Tech entrepreneurs: Maximize data access, minimize restrictions, accelerate innovation
2. Regulators: Ensure compliance, protect citizen rights, maintain order Resources: Enforcement authority, legal expertise, public mandate Constraints: Limited technical understanding, bureaucratic processes
3. Civil Society Organizations: Represent citizen interests, ensure ethical use, promote equity Resources: Public trust, ethical frameworks, community connections Constraints: Limited technical/legal expertise, funding limitations
4. Corporate data holders: Monetize data assets, limit liability, maintain competitive advantage Resources: Vast data holdings, market power, legal teams Constraints: Reputational concerns, regulatory scrutiny