Internet governance

AfriSIG, an initiative co-organised by APC and NEPAD, is a multistakeholder training initiative that aims to give Africans from diverse sectors and stakeholder groups the opportunity to gain knowledge and confidence to participate effectively in internet governance processes and debates. 

My name is Masibulele Siya, but I’m also known as Jay where I live in rural Eastern Cape in South Africa. I was born in the mid-1980’s and raised in these rural areas, but I left my homeland for about seven years for educational purposes.    

Serge Daho of PROTEGE QV in Cameroon attended the IGF for the first time in 2016 thanks to the APC Member Exchange and Travel Fund.The 11th annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) took place in Guadalajara, Mexico on 5-9 December 2016.      

YZ Ya’u, right, with Dr Tunde Akanni of Lagos State University, Nigeria and Nanjira Sambuli (from Kenya) of the World Wide Web Foundation.Coming from Africa, and especially Nigeria, where access to the internet is characterised by different layers of exclusions and where development challenges are also layered with variou

What is the value for Africans in international internet governance processes if the approach towards internet governance on the continent has not fully embraced the multistakeholder model?

Thanks to travel support from APC’s Member Exchange and Travel Fund (METF), I was able to attend the IGF and its related events from 4 to 9 December in Guadalajara, Mexico.

In January 2017, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Secretariat organised a public consultation, inviting IGF stakeholders to submit inputs to take stock of the 2016 programming, preparatory process, community intersessional activities and the 11th annual IGF.

With regard to enhanced cooperation on policy issues pertaining to the internet, APC stresses that enhanced cooperation should aim to improve and democratise the governance of the internet at all levels, not only to establish more equitable influence for and among sovereign states.