{"id":828,"date":"2017-09-01T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/2017\/09\/01\/en-afigf-2017-cairo-overview\/"},"modified":"2017-09-01T19:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-09-01T10:00:00","slug":"en-afigf-2017-cairo-overview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/2017\/09\/01\/en-afigf-2017-cairo-overview\/","title":{"rendered":"AfIGF 2017 Sharm El Sheikh \u2014 In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest &#038; 3-Line Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/en-afigf-2017-cairo-overview_thumbnail-2.svg\" alt=\"AfIGF 2017 \u30b7\u30e3\u30eb\u30e0\u30fb\u30a8\u30eb\u30fb\u30b7\u30a7\u30a4\u30af \u2014 Thumbnail\"><\/p>\n<h2>The 3-Line Summary<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/en-afigf-2017-cairo-overview_s3-1.svg\" alt=\"AfIGF 2017 \u30b7\u30e3\u30eb\u30e0\u30fb\u30a8\u30eb\u30fb\u30b7\u30a7\u30a4\u30af \u2014 3-line summary\"><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>The 6th African IGF met on 4\u20136 December 2017 in Egypt (the catalogue says Cairo, but the venue was the Hyatt Regency in Sharm El-Sheikh), drawing 300+ participants from over 30 countries under the theme &#39;Enabling an Inclusive Digital Transformation of Africa.&#39;<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Its biggest outcome was the adoption of the African IGF Charter by acclamation. Connectivity (only 33% of Africans online), the economic cost of election-time internet shutdowns, and ratification of the Malabo cybersecurity convention dominated the agenda.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Unusually, a keynote openly argued for &#39;top-down&#39; internet governance while ICANN pushed back with the bottom-up model \u2014 a revealing clash, at the moment the regional IGF was institutionalising itself.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Welcome \u2014 this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on <strong>AfIGF 2017 in Sharm El Sheikh<\/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<blockquote>\n<p>&#x1f4cd; The catalogue lists this event as &#39;Cairo&#39;, but all sources confirm the 6th AfIGF (2017) met at the Hyatt Regency in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Cairo hosted the inaugural AfIGF in 2012, which may explain the mix-up (the country, Egypt, matches)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>Conference at a Glance (from official records)<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/en-afigf-2017-cairo-overview_h2-1.svg\" alt=\"AfIGF 2017 \u30b7\u30e3\u30eb\u30e0\u30fb\u30a8\u30eb\u30fb\u30b7\u30a7\u30a4\u30af \u2014 Conference at a glance\"><\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Item<\/th>\n<th>Detail<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Edition<\/td>\n<td>6th African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Dates<\/td>\n<td>4\u20136 December 2017<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Venue<\/td>\n<td>Hyatt Regency Hotel, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Theme<\/td>\n<td>Enabling an Inclusive Digital Transformation of Africa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Participants<\/td>\n<td>Over 300 participants from more than 30 countries (official report)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Supporters<\/td>\n<td>Technically and financially supported by AFRINIC, APC, dotAfrica, UNECA, Huawei, ICANN, IGFSA, ISOC and UNESCO<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Host<\/td>\n<td>Co-organised by the African Union Commission with Egypt&#39;s National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) and the NEPAD Coordination Agency<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Outcome<\/td>\n<td>The African IGF Charter was adopted by acclamation, to be implemented from the 7th AfIGF in Khartoum<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>(See the source list at the end of this article.)<\/p>\n<h2>Discussion Digest \u2014 from the Session Records<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/en-afigf-2017-cairo-overview_minutes-1.svg\" alt=\"AfIGF 2017 \u30b7\u30e3\u30eb\u30e0\u30fb\u30a8\u30eb\u30fb\u30b7\u30a7\u30a4\u30af \u2014 Discussion map\"><\/p>\n<p>Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Adopting the African IGF Charter \u2014 Institutionalising the Regional Forum<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Plenary Session 5, &#39;Review and Approval of the Draft African IGF Charter&#39; (6 December, 9:00\u201310:30)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Moderated by Mary Uduma (Nigeria), the draft was read out, discussed, and adopted by acclamation [1]<\/li>\n<li>The forum recommended publicising the Charter widely and implementing it from the 7th AfIGF in Khartoum in 2018 \u2014 the culmination of the online consultation launched after Durban 2016 [1]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>2. Top-Down or Bottom-Up \u2014 A Keynote Stirs the Pot<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Keynote by Alexander Trigona, Special Envoy to the Prime Minister of Malta (4 December), and the High Level Discussion<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Trigona argued Africa should adopt the top-down approach of marine and outer-space accords, and negotiate new e-commerce rules at the WTO with a macro-level strategy [1]<\/li>\n<li>ICANN&#39;s Pierre Dandjinou countered that bottom-up consultation is what brings diverse stakeholder views on board, stressing ICANN&#39;s remit is limited to names and numbers, not content regulation [1]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>3. Connectivity and the Cost of Shutdowns \u2014 No Economy Without Access<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Plenary Session 1, &#39;Promoting Digital Africa: Internet Economy&#39; (5 December, 12:00\u201313:30) and others<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&quot;Making the Internet accessible, reliable and affordable to all African citizens is not a matter of choice but an obligation&quot;<br \/>\n\u2014 <strong>Amani Abou-Zeid (AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, as recorded in the official report)<\/strong> [1]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>ISOC&#39;s Dawit Bekele noted only about one-third of Africans are connected and the internet contributes roughly 1.1% of GDP in most African countries \u2014 infrastructure is the precondition for an internet economy [1]<\/li>\n<li>The official report explicitly lists internet shutdowns during elections and unrest as damaging businesses and national economies, alongside high mobile-broadband costs and red tape [1]<\/li>\n<li>Commissioner Abou-Zeid cited 28% broadband access and studies showing a 10-point rise in penetration lifts economic growth by 2\u20133% [1]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>4. Cybersecurity and the Malabo Convention \u2014 A Call to Ratify<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Plenary Session 3, &#39;Empowering Global Cooperation on Cybersecurity for Sustainable Development and Peace&#39; (5 December, 16:30\u201318:00)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Member states were urged to ratify the AU (Malabo) cybersecurity convention, framed as compatible with the Budapest Convention [1]<\/li>\n<li>The session called for law-enforcement capacity building (CERT tools, critical infrastructure protection, DNSSEC training) and cross-border cooperation against cybercrime [1]<\/li>\n<li>Session 4 added a data-sovereignty recommendation: data collected and processed in Africa should be kept in Africa so the continent controls its use [1]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>5. Digital Rights \u2014 AFEX&#39;s Internet Freedom in Africa 2017 Report<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Parallel session (4 December, AFEX and civil-society partners)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A report examining eight countries (including Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe) on shutdowns, high data costs and regulatory gaps was launched at the forum [3]<\/li>\n<li>It urged governments to repeal laws restricting online expression, and telecom operators to refuse unjustified shutdown orders and demand court orders before disclosing user data [3]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Three-Minute Short Talk \u2014 Your Questions Answered<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q. So what did the conference actually decide?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A. It&#39;s a dialogue forum, but this edition unusually adopted a founding document \u2014 the African IGF Charter \u2014 by acclamation, formalising how the regional forum is run from the next edition onwards.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q. What was the most contentious topic?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A. How the internet should be governed at all. Malta&#39;s special envoy argued for a top-down, treaty-style approach like outer-space accords; ICANN pushed back with the bottom-up multistakeholder model \u2014 a rare head-on clash at an IGF.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q. Why should I care?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A. The recommendation that &#39;data collected in Africa should stay in Africa&#39; is an early form of the data-localisation debate that now shapes cross-border data rules \u2014 and compliance costs \u2014 worldwide.<\/p>\n<h2>What Is AfIGF? (for first-time readers)<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/en-afigf-2017-cairo-overview_h1-1.svg\" alt=\"AfIGF 2017 \u30b7\u30e3\u30eb\u30e0\u30fb\u30a8\u30eb\u30fb\u30b7\u30a7\u30a4\u30af \u2014 About AfIGF\"><\/p>\n<p>AfIGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.<\/p>\n<h2>Why It Matters to You<\/h2>\n<p>What was discussed here becomes <strong>the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years<\/strong>. The principles confirmed at the 2017 meeting are the foundation of the &quot;next rules&quot; for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.<\/p>\n<h2>Sources &amp; References<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/igf.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Report-AfIGF-2017-Sharm-El-Sheikh.pdf\">The African Internet Governance Forum \u2013 AfIGF 2017 Report (Sharm El-Sheikh)<\/a> \u2014 \u30a2\u30d5\u30ea\u30abIGF\u4e8b\u52d9\u5c40\uff08AUC\uff09 (accessed 2026-07-10)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mcit.gov.eg\/en\/Media_Center\/Latest_News\/News\/13760\">Sixth African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF 2017) \u2014 news item<\/a> \u2014 MCIT (accessed 2026-07-10)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ifex.org\/african-governments-urged-to-prioritise-digital-rights\/\">African governments urged to prioritise digital rights<\/a> \u2014 IFEX (accessed 2026-07-10)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/African_Internet_Governance_Forum\">African Internet Governance Forum<\/a> \u2014 en (accessed 2026-07-10)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>Quotes are translated or condensed from the records listed above. Bracketed numbers [n] refer to the source list.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Related links<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>IGF official (NRI list): <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intgovforum.org\/en\/content\/national-and-regional-igf-initiatives\">https:\/\/www.intgovforum.org\/en\/content\/national-and-regional-igf-initiatives<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Japan IGF: <a href=\"https:\/\/japanigf.jp\/\">https:\/\/japanigf.jp\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Yuki Nakazawa&#39;s blog: <a href=\"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/category\/igf\/\">https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/category\/igf\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Revision History<\/h2>\n<p>Rev. 1 \u2014 published 1 September 2017, 12:00 (Article published)<\/p>\n<p>Rev. 2 \u2014 updated 10 July 2026, 23:16 (Fully revised into the in-depth edition: added the 3-line summary, minutes digest, short talk, source list and diagrams (all quotes verified against the listed sources))<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014 \u4e2d\u6fa4\u7950\u6a39<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 6th African IGF met on 4\u20136 December 2017 in Egypt (the catalogue says Cairo, but the venue was the Hyatt Regency in Sharm El-Sheikh), dr<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3,11],"tags":[163,233,161,160,162,164],"class_list":["post-828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-afigf","category-igf","category-regional-igf","tag-3-line-summary","tag-afigf2017","tag-deep-dive","tag-english","tag-minutes-digest","tag-sourced"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}