{"id":12025,"date":"2021-09-17T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-17T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/2021\/09\/17\/en-west-african-igf-2021-overview\/"},"modified":"2021-09-17T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T14:00:00","slug":"en-west-african-igf-2021-overview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/2021\/09\/17\/en-west-african-igf-2021-overview\/","title":{"rendered":"West African IGF 2021 Virtual \u2014 In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"West<\/p>\n

The 3-Line Summary<\/h2>\n

\"West<\/p>\n

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  1. The 13th West African IGF (WAIGF) met online for a second straight year on 28\u201330 July 2021, under the theme 'Digital Inclusion and Access for a Resilient West Africa.'<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Gambian Information Minister Ebrima Sillah's keynote pressed for cheaper connectivity and rural access, against the shared figure of 55.67% regional Internet penetration at end-2020; a communiqu\u00e9 went to ECOWAS ICT ministers.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. The meeting confronted, in hard numbers, the fact that nearly half the region was still offline \u2014 and framed digital access as the backbone of post-COVID resilience.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Welcome \u2014 this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on West African IGF 2021 in Virtual<\/strong> draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.<\/p>\n

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    📍 Held online as the catalogue states. A dig.watch listing describes it as a face-to-face meeting in Bamako, Mali, but ECOWAS's own announcements and post-event releases record the 13th edition as virtual.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Conference at a Glance (from official records)<\/h2>\n

    \"West<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Item<\/th>\nDetail<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
    Edition<\/td>\n13th edition<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Dates<\/td>\n28\u201330 July 2021<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Venue<\/td>\nOnline (virtual)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Theme<\/td>\nDigital Inclusion and Access for a Resilient West Africa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Pre-event<\/td>\nPreceded by the 4th West Africa School on Internet Governance (WASIG)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Host<\/td>\nECOWAS Commission and partners<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Outcome<\/td>\nA communiqu\u00e9 for presentation to ECOWAS Ministers of Telecommunications\/ICT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    (See the source list at the end of this article.)<\/p>\n

    Discussion Digest \u2014 from the Session Records<\/h2>\n

    \"West<\/p>\n

    Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.<\/p>\n

    1. Connectivity Costs and Rural Access \u2014 The Gambian Minister's Keynote<\/h3>\n

    Sessions<\/strong>: Keynote address by Hon. Ebrima Sillah, Gambia's Minister of Information and Communication Infrastructure<\/p>\n

    \n

    "(The region needs strategies to) bring down the cost of Internet connectivity and make accessibility more possible for the region's rural dwellers"
    \n\u2014 Hon. Ebrima Sillah (Minister of Information and Communication Infrastructure, The Gambia)<\/strong> [1][2]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n