The 2024 edition of the annual African Internet Freedom Forum (FIFAfrica) is the first of the event to be held in Francophone Africa.
Organised from September 25 to 27, 2024 in Dakar, Senegal, this 11th edition shed light on the state of digital democracy in this region of the continent.
From human rights to freedom of expression online, and including facilitating internet access for disabled people, the discussions were particularly rich.
Advocates for internet users in Africa face numerous challenges. This revolutionary tool, which has become vital in many respects, has not entirely relinquished its status as a luxury item in some countries and regions.
Significant disparities still exist in both digital coverage and cost. This constitutes a major obstacle to the pursuit of a truly democratized internet. This is one of the reasons why the issue was given central importance at the 11th annual Internet Freedom Forum in Africa (FIFAfrica), held in Dakar, Senegal, from September 25 to 27, 2024.
“Africa has already missed the boat on other technological revolutions, it cannot afford to miss the Internet revolution,” argues Cheikh Fall, president of AfricTivistes, co-organizer of the Forum in partnership with the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA).
The public authorities have been called upon to act.
The annual African Internet Freedom Forum (FIFAfrica) is Africa's largest gathering on digital rights. This event brings together a wide range of actors in internet governance and digital rights in Africa and beyond, "to discuss gaps, challenges and opportunities to advance privacy, freedom of expression, inclusion, free flow of information, civic participation and online innovation," explains Mr. Fall.
FIFAfrica, in effect, offers stakeholders an opportunity to harmonize a common approach to advance digital rights in Africa and to establish a reliable framework for promoting the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance.
And in the discussions, public authorities and other decision-makers are placed at the center. The stakeholders are calling on governments, distributors, and leaders of large digital companies to establish frameworks for dialogue in order to make the internet a technology accessible and useful to all.
“We must understand that the digital economy can create value and increase the gross domestic product of our countries. And once we understand this, our governments will be able to inject money. If they cannot, they can make appeals to the major brands that manage the internet: we will reduce our taxes so that you can increase user revenues,” adds Cyriac Gbogou, vice-president of AfricTivistes.
Huge expectations
It goes without saying that the expectations of the participants in this forum are enormous. And they revolve primarily around public policies to support the efforts made by stakeholders to ensure greater freedom for internet users.
“Personally, I expect public policies to be put in place first, and for governments to work with opinion leaders and those in charge of large companies. It will be important for each company to have a public policy officer working in a coordinated manner, hand in hand with governments, to facilitate internet access and subsequently provide education. Because I think governments have difficulty accepting a certain level of internet penetration because they fear the negative consequences that come with it,” insists Dominique Hodieb, a digital strategy consultant.
Regulating online content remains one of the biggest challenges in the democratization of this technology. This issue is often a source of conflict between public authorities and user rights advocates.
In some African countries, the internet is often used as a weapon to defuse social tensions. This leads to restrictions on internet freedom. There is a growing trend of arrests and intimidation of online users, internet disruptions, and a proliferation of laws and regulations. All of these threats stifle the potential of digital technology for socio-economic and political development on the continent.
