Ghana is formally launching preparations to host the 15th Africa Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF 2026), positioning itself at the center of continental debates over how African nations shape, rather than merely adopt, global digital rules.
Samuel Nartey George, Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, will officiate the launch at the Ministry’s Conference Room, marking the start of a multi-month run-up to one of Africa’s most consequential digital policy gatherings.
African governments are actively implementing the African Union Digital Transformation Strategy 2020–2030, navigating the WSIS+20 review process marking two decades since the World Summit on the Information Society, and aligning with the Global Digital Compact adopted at the UN. Ghana’s hosting role gives Accra outsized influence in setting the agenda for how these frameworks translate into national policy.
The theme, “Advancing Africa’s Digital Future Through Innovation, Inclusion, and Trust” reflects a dual priority: closing connectivity and skills gaps while building institutional capacity to govern emerging technologies on African terms rather than importing standards from Washington, Brussels, or Beijing.
AfIGF 2026 will convene governments, parliamentarians, private sector leaders, technical communities, academia, civil society, youth groups, and international institutions. Thematic tracks will cover artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, cybersecurity and digital trust, digital inclusion, online safety, platform governance, climate change, and youth and gender participation in digital policy processes.
The agenda signals a maturation in Africa’s digital policy discourse. Where earlier forums focused primarily on expanding internet access, AfIGF 2026 will grapple with harder questions: how to regulate AI without stifling innovation, how to hold global tech platforms accountable for content moderation across multiple jurisdictions, and how to ensure African data serves African economies rather than becoming raw material for foreign AI models.
The Accra gathering also serves as a continental coordination mechanism ahead of the Global Internet Governance Forum 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya, giving African delegations a unified position before engaging with U.S., European, and Asian counterparts on global digital cooperation.
The Ministry stressed that the launch event will outline “proposed thematic tracks and opportunities for stakeholder participation, with particular emphasis on inclusive multistakeholder engagement and expanding the participation of youth and women in digital policy dialogue.”
The Africa Internet Governance Forum operates under the global Internet Governance Forum process established following WSIS, but has increasingly asserted distinct continental priorities, particularly around data localization, digital taxation, and the equitable distribution of internet governance institutional roles between developed and developing nations.
