The virtual meeting “National IGFs paving way for inclusive digital governance in East Africa,” held virtually on Thursday focused on measuring regional achievements and addressing ongoing challenges to build a secure and effective digital ecosystem.
“This year’s forum is looking at advancing East Africa’s digital future. This theme was selected to align ourselves in understanding and measuring key achievements that we’ve achieved as a region, but also addressing any challenges we have to meet to overcome for us to have a secure and effective digital ecosystem,” said Lillian Nalwoga, one of the forum organisers, in her opening remarks.
She emphasised the importance of regional collaboration, adding, “We’ve been on a roller coaster and I’m excited to see most of our national coordinators and people who have been with this process from the start.”
Robert Ford, representing Rwanda, expressed enthusiasm about the Kenya IGF’s agenda held Wednesday, “I was very excited about the topics that were being discussed… which resonate a lot with what we have in the themes that we’ll be discussing during the EAIGF moving forward.”
Robert proposed a regional Child Online Protection initiative, stating, “We could form an EAIGF initiative to advance child online protection for the entire region.”
Arsène Tungali from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one of the forum’s newest members, said, “We are grateful to have been added as part of the East African IGF. I’m sure we’ll be having wonderful conversations as we reflect on the 20 years back.”
Stephen Kang Ilario from South Sudan highlighted the forum’s regional impact, “We are glad to be part of this platform, which is providing an opportunity for the region to discuss their national issues in a regional context that can feed later on into the global IGF discussion.”
The spirit of collaboration and inclusivity was echoed by Jean Paul Nkurunziza from Burundi, who noted, “We started the first IGF in 2009 after attending the first East Africa IGF in Nairobi in 2008. We are happy to join this conversation.”
Kenya’s local host team, represented by Rosemary Koech-Kimwatu, the current EAIGF MAG Chair underscored the significance of the event, “From the Kenyan perspective, it’s a hybrid of activities in terms of the internet governance discussions… looking for the robust conversation today as we all contribute towards shaping conversations that are truly predictive of our region in the internet governance space.”
David Indeje from KICTANet, the convening partner, welcomed delegates to Nairobi and stressed the forum’s role in fostering open dialogue, “Everyone should just be very open to interact, to speak out their hearts so that at the end of the day, we come out and say, yes, indeed, we came out for a particular theme-to advance the region’s internet governance process.”
As the forum continues, participants are expected to engage in honest discussions about national and regional achievements, challenges, and the future of internet governance in East Africa, with an eye on contributing to global processes such as the IGF renewal and the WSIS+20 review.
The 2025 EAIGF will be hosted by KICTANet in partnership with the East Africa Community – EAC and other East Africa NRIs under the theme, “Advancing East Africa’s Digital Governance Together.”
Discussions will continue at the Edge Convention Center on May 16, featuring policymakers, private sector leaders, and East African Community (EAC) representatives. Topics include digital trade, cybersecurity, and AI governance, with a focus on inclusive policies for the region’s digital transformation.