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?

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

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.

Africa teeters on the edge of transformative change as the Singularity, when AI systems surpass human cognitive capabilities, advances from theory to reality.
This session confronts the immediate policy choices that will shape whether emerging technologies become engines of inclusive prosperity or intensify preexisting divides. We’ll explore how African-led data governance frameworks can maintain cultural and economic sovereignty, focusing on local languages, contexts, and ethical safeguards that counter AI bias.

We’ll investigate strategies for securing robust cybersecurity measures without sacrificing openness, ensuring that advancing AI ecosystems do not come at the expense of trust and autonomy. We’ll also touch on the importance of universal digital infrastructure, because cutting-edge machine learning innovations can only thrive if broadband access and digital literacy extend across both urban and rural populations.

Beyond these foundational elements, the debate addresses the continent’s standing in global tech governance. Instead of remaining consumers of imported AI solutions, African innovators can flip the script by contributing distinctive research, forging strategic alliances, and adopting local-first approaches that reflect the continent’s linguistic diversity and cultural richness.

As policymakers, entrepreneurs, and civil society weigh in, we’ll examine whether international cooperation frameworks genuinely serve Africa’s best interests or risk turning local populations into passive data reservoirs. Throughout this discussion, one central question resonates: will Africa passively absorb the Singularity, or will it actively shape the trajectory of AI and position the continent at the vanguard of a new digital era?

The answer depends on forging alliances, embracing homegrown innovation, and prioritizing an ethical and inclusive approach to exponential technology. This debate aims to reveal not only the flashpoints at stake but also the actionable pathways to securing Africa’s agency and prosperity in an age of accelerating artificial intelligence.