The 2018 edition of the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica) is set to be held in Accra, Ghana. The Collaboration for International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) who are the organizers of the event say this year’s forum will be hosted in partnership with the Media Foundation West Africa (MFWA) and will take place on September 26–28, 2018.
FIFAfrica is a landmark event that convenes various stakeholders from the internet governance and online rights arenas in Africa and beyond to deliberate on gaps, concerns, and opportunities for advancing privacy, access to information, free expression, non-discrimination and the free flow of information online on the continent.
The forum has previously been hosted in Uganda, while in 2017, was hosted in Johannesburg, South Africa in partnership with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), an international network and non-profit organization that works towards a free and open internet.
By choosing to have this year’s forum hosted in Ghana, CIPESA says it is spreading the physical footprint of FIFAfrica across different regions across the continent to ensure the forum lives up to its goal of unpacking internet freedom challenges and opportunities in sub-regions of Africa.
‘’Hosting the Forum in West Africa for the first time will not only open up the space to moreWestt African civil society, private sector and public sector actors to contribute their experiences to the regional discussion, but will also give life to the Forum’s commitment of ensuring broader regional representation and deepening conversations across the continent,.’’ it said in a blog post.
Since inception, FIFAfrica has also served as a platform to mark the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI). Engagements at the Forum aim to reflect current trends and concerns in access and usage of the internet and related technologies on the continent.
CIPESA is also calling on Africans to suggest session topics, panels, skills clinics, presentations or any additional activities that they would like to see happen prior or alongside the Forum. You can use this form to submit your ideas.
