Human rights

The Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2017 (FIFAfrica17) brought together human rights defenders, journalists, government officials, private sector players, global information intermediaries, bloggers, developers, the arts community, law enforcers and regulators – all of whom have a role to play in advancing internet freedom in Africa.

As an organisation that has been promoting some of the key principles of the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms, the… Read more

The 2016 African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) provided a platform for discussion of issues relating to internet governance. The beauty of the school is pegged on the diverse nature of the participants drawn from different countries and from fields that include civil society, academia, the technical community and the government. With mottled experience drawn from different contexts coupled with a mix of dissimilar social and technical backgrounds, participants gear for an explosive learning curve. Through exchanges between participants during the course of the school, they… Read more

Gbenga SesanGbenga Sesan, executive director of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, joined this year’s African School on Internet Governance as a member of the faculty team, and highlighted the contribution it is making to capacity building on internet governance in the region.

APCNews: What is your general impression about the school?

Gbenga Sesan: The school is an important part of the capacity- building process to get more African civil society actors more knowledgeable about internet governance… Read more

Shortly after this year’s African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) was held, the 5th African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF) took place from 16 to 18 October at the Durban International Convention Centre. The South African government was the host government for the AfIGF, and arguably this year the government of South Africa has made significant strides in participating in multistakeholder settings in relation to internet governance locally and regionally. Prior to AfriSIG and the AfIGF, South Africa had its… Read more

AFRINIC is home to Africa’s regional internet registry, based in Mauritius, and has three other operational offices in South Africa (technical operations), Egypt (backup and disaster recovery) and Ghana (training coordination).

AFRINIC was part of the 2016 African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) session on “Multistakeholder internet governance: Achievements, strengths and weaknesses”, where it’s CEO Alan Barrett, stated that multistakeholderism is important to the future of internet governance and AFRINIC believes in this process
Afrinic CEO “Alan Barrett… Read more

David SouterDavid Souter is a longstanding associate of APC, and has worked for more than 20 years on the relationship between information and communications technologies (ICTs) and public policy, particularly in the areas of development, the environment, governance (including internet governance) and rights. He joined this year’s edition of the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) as a faculty member, focusing on the relationship between internet governance and human rights.

APCNews: What type of role would the internet play in achieving… Read more

AFRINIC is home to Africa’s regional internet registry, based in Mauritius, and has three other operational offices in South Africa (technical operations), Egypt (backup and disaster recovery) and Ghana (training coordination).

AFRINIC was part of the 2016 African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) session on “Multistakeholder internet governance: Achievements, strengths and weaknesses”, where it’s CEO Alan Barrett, stated that multistakeholderism is important to the future of internet governance and AFRINIC believes in this process
… Read more

Chenai Chair, researcher and communications/evaluations officer at Research ICT Africa, was an AfriSIG participant and graduate of the 2015 edition. This year, however, she became a member of the faculty, and did a spectacular job as team coach, assisting Avri Doria in the practicum sessions. In this interview, she shares her insights from that new position.

APCNews: How did you generally find this edition of AfriSIG?

Chenai Chair: I found this year’s AfriSIG a class full of young people ready to learn about internet… Read more

APCNews spoke with Bob Ochieng, ICANN stakeholder engagement manager for Africa and a faculty member for the 2016 African School on Internet Governance, to gather his impressions on the experience. Ochieng had high praise for the diversity represented by this year’s AfriSIG class, as well as a few pointers for future editions of the School. Bob Ochieng

APCNews: What is your general impression about the school?

Bob Ochieng: I think the school was very successful in general with… Read more

The internet remains one of the historical developments transforming human behaviour, greatly impacting on the social, economic, cultural and political spheres of life at an incredible speed. The recently concluded African Internet Governance Forum held from 16 to 18 October 2016 in Durban, South Africa reaffirmed the great opportunities of the internet, demonstrating its capacity to facilitate economic growth and transform society. Increasingly the internet is changing the way we do business, socialise, engage in politics and activism, and acquire and use information. With a 28.7%… Read more