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).
