Africa’s digital transformation surged in 2024, a year for East Africa’s tech policy and internet governance.
The Kenya IGF in Nairobi and the 11th East Africa IGF in Kampala ignited debates and generated actionable solutions.
As KICTANet’s Africa Tech Policy Summit 2025 in Nairobi nears, stakeholders must leverage these insights to forge a bold, inclusive, and sustainable digital future.
What priorities should guide Africa’s tech policy? How can stakeholders move beyond rhetoric to deliver tangible outcomes?
The Kenya IGF and EAIGF 2024 highlighted cross-cutting themes that demand rigorous scrutiny from policymakers, businesses, civil society, and youth. Stakeholders are urged to grapple with these questions ahead of the Summit:
Multi-Stakeholder Governance: Inclusive or Performative?
Both IGFs championed the multi-stakeholder model, uniting governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, and youth.
Yet, are all voices truly equal at the table? How can the summit ensure that marginalised communities, such as rural populations or small-scale innovators, shape policy?
The EAIGF’s engagement with the East African Legislative Assembly signals regional ambition, but stakeholders must ask: What mechanisms will prevent governance frameworks from favouring powerful interests?
Innovation vs. Risk: Can Africa Strike the Balance?
From fintech to health tech, digital innovation is transforming Africa. Yet, cybersecurity threats, data privacy gaps, and AI ethics challenges loom large.
The EAIGF’s theme, “Advancing East Africa’s Digital Governance Together,” and the KIGF’s theme, “Tech for human development: Policy, Innovation and Inclusive Governance,” raise a critical question: How can Africa foster homegrown innovation while safeguarding against exploitation?
Stakeholders should debate whether current regulatory approaches are agile enough to keep pace with technologies like AI and Web3.
Digital Inclusion and Human Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?
With over half the world’s unconnected population in Africa, the IGFs underscored the urgency of closing the digital divide through affordability, literacy, and infrastructure.
But are current strategies, such as solar-powered connectivity or policy harmonisation, scalable and sustainable?
Equally pressing, how can online rights, like freedom of expression, be protected in an era of increasing digital surveillance?
Stakeholders must interrogate whether inclusion efforts are reaching the most vulnerable.
AI for Social Good: Opportunity or Threat?
AI’s potential to drive economic and social progress was a focal point, but so were concerns about bias, job displacement, and governance. What does a uniquely African AI framework look like?
How can stakeholders ensure AI serves local needs rather than perpetuating global inequities?
The Summit’s AI track offers a chance to design ethical, regionally relevant AI policies—but only if stakeholders critically assess trade-offs.
Sustainability: Can Digital Growth Be Climate-Conscious?
The EA IGF, led by voices like Ms. Lillian Nalwoga, linked digital policy to environmental sustainability.
As Africa builds digital infrastructure, how can stakeholders minimise environmental harm? What role should green tech play in policy priorities?
The Summit’s focus on sustainable digital growth demands that stakeholders question whether current strategies align with climate goals.
The Africa Tech Policy Summit 2025: A Call for Critical Engagement
Scheduled for May 2025 in Nairobi, the Africa Tech Policy Summit aims to “shape the future of tech policy in Africa.” Building on the IGFs’ momentum, KICTANet invites stakeholders to move from dialogue to action.
Here’s how the summit can drive impact—and the questions stakeholders should bring:
- From Ideas to Implementation: The IGFs proposed regulatory sandboxes, cross-border data protection, and digital skills programs. But how can these be operationalised? Stakeholders should assess which proposals are feasible and prioritise those with the greatest impact. What barriers—political, financial, or technical—must be overcome?
- Policy Synchronisation: Fragmented digital laws hinder Africa’s progress. The Summit’s Continental Policy Alignment Index aims to track regulatory convergence, but stakeholders must ask: How can harmonisation respect national contexts while fostering continental unity?
- Youth and Grassroots Voices: Inspired by the Children’s IGF and EAIGF youth sessions, the Summit will feature youth-led panels. Stakeholders should reflect: Are young innovators being empowered as policymakers, or merely tokenised?
- Global Influence: With the Global Digital Compact and WSIS+20 on the horizon, Africa’s voice is key. How can stakeholders ensure the continent’s priorities, rooted in local realities, shape global agendas?
“This theme is aligned with the spirit of the Kenyan constitution, which puts inclusive governance, equality, representation, and public participation at the centre of Kenyan values.
It also aligns with Africa’s efforts on digital transformation through inter-African digital trade and African cohesion to foster tech and human development,” reads the summit’s concept note.
The path from the 2024 IGFs to the Africa Tech Policy Summit 2025 is a call to action. The IGFs laid bare Africa’s digital challenges and opportunities; the Summit must now deliver concrete policies and partnerships.
I challenge stakeholders to think critically:
- Governments: Are you ready to enact bold, inclusive policies that prioritise citizens over political expediency?
- Private Sector: Will you invest in sustainable, equitable innovation or chase short-term profits?
- Civil Society: How will you hold power accountable while amplifying marginalised voices?
- Youth: What solutions will you champion to ensure Africa’s digital future reflects your vision?
Africa is poised not just to join global tech policy debates but to lead them, with solutions grounded in its unique context. The Summit is your chance to shape that legacy.
Visit techpolicysummit.africa to register for the Africa Tech Policy Summit 2025 and share your perspectives. Ahead of the event, engage on X using #AfricaTechPolicy2025 to debate priorities and propose solutions.
