Forum National sur la Gouvernance de l’Internet au Sénégal (FGI-SN) 2013 — first edition of the current series — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

On 19 September 2013 the first edition of Senegal's current national Internet Governance Forum series (FGI-SN) met at the UCAD 2 conference centre in Dakar, organised by the ISOC Senegal Chapter.
The digital-economy minister personally chaired the high-level panel; government, the regulator, operators, a UN agency and civil society debated the new national digital-economy strategy and effective liberalisation of the internet, with ISOC calling for a digital-economy development fund.
It is the founding record of one of West Africa's oldest national IGFs — and the ISOC president's line, 'our ambition is that everyone can reach the internet', made the local headlines.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on Forum National sur la Gouvernance de l'Internet au Sénégal (FGI-SN) 2013 — first edition of the current series draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.

Conference at a Glance (from official records)

Item	Detail
Official name	Forum National sur la Gouvernance de l'Internet au Sénégal (FGI-SN) 2013 — first edition of the current series
Dates	19 September 2013
Venue	UCAD 2 conference centre, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar
Theme	Regional governance themes
Host	The ISOC Senegal Chapter (president Alex Corenthin), with support from the Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, Google Senegal and the regulator ARTP

(See the source list at the end of this article.)

Discussion Digest — from the Session Records

Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.

1. Launching the Current FGI-SN — Multistakeholder Dialogue on Campus

Sessions: FGI-SN 2013 overall (19 September 2013, UCAD 2 conference centre)

"« Notre ambition est de permettre à tout le monde d'accéder à l'internet » (Our ambition is to enable everyone to access the internet)"
— Alex Corenthin (President, ISOC Senegal) — from the headline of local outlet Rondelleplus, translated from French [1]

ISOC Senegal's official blog records that 'FGI 2013' was organised with the support of the communications ministry, Google Senegal and the regulator ARTP [1]
In his introductory address, president Corenthin presented ISOC Senegal's founders and its Next Generation team, and reviewed what had become of the 2012 session's recommendations [1]
Notably, the blog itself calls this the '3rd national forum', counting the 2010 and 2012 WAIGF-process meetings — while the current series counts it as edition one [1]

2. A Minister-Chaired High-Level Panel — State, Market and International Bodies Together

Sessions: High-level panel (19 September, 16:30–18:30)

The panel was chaired by Cheikh Mamadou Abiboulaye Dieye, Minister of Communication, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, and moderated by Fatimata Sèye Sylla [1]
Panellists spanned the ecosystem: Khassoum Wone (DG of the state IT agency ADIE), Antoine Ngom (president of industry body OPTIC), Mahfoud Brahim (deputy CEO, Expresso), Diadié Touré (representing the ITU) and Amadou Top (president of OSIRIS) [1]
Five stakeholder groups on one stage — government, regulator, operators, international organisations and civil society — set the template for later editions [1]

3. Demands on the Digital-Economy Strategy — a Development Fund and Liberalisation

Sessions: The debate as covered by the local press (per the ISOC blog's press review)

State daily Le Soleil reported ISOC Senegal demanding the creation of a digital-economy development fund [1][2]
Business outlet Lejecos headlined the plea for effective liberalisation of the internet, and afriqueitnews a proposed 'shock therapy' for Senegalese internet access [1][2]
The official 2015 announcement looks back on this 2013 edition's 'lively debate around defining a new national digital-economy strategy' as the series' point of origin [1][2]

4. Prehistory from 2010 — the WAIGF Process and National Meetings

Sessions: The lineage of Senegal's national IGF (per the WAIGF site)

The WAIGF site records a Senegalese IGF meeting on 29 July 2010 at the Place du Souvenir, Dakar, organised by ISOC Senegal with ICT-ministry support [3]
Its sessions covered the internet's socio-economic aspects, access and diversity, education and research, cloud computing, critical resources, and security, privacy and open systems [3]
This prehistory makes Senegal's national IGF one of West Africa's oldest; the current series (from 2013) institutionalised that lineage under ISOC's leadership [3]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What did the meeting decide?

A. Nothing binding — it launched Senegal's current national IGF series. A minister-chaired panel debated the national digital-economy strategy, and ISOC pressed government to create a development fund.

Q. First edition — or third?

A. Both labels appear: organiser ISOC then counted the 2010 and 2012 precursor meetings and called it the third; today's official numbering (2024 = 11th) starts the series at 2013.

Q. Why should I care?

A. Civil society challenging a national digital strategy with the minister on the same stage is multistakeholder dialogue in action — a template relevant to any country's IGF community.

What Is Senegal IGF? (for first-time readers)

Senegal IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.

Why It Matters to You

What was discussed here becomes the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years. The principles confirmed at the 2013 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.