Open Mic & Closing Ceremony

Summary

The transcript covers the closing session of the 17th West African Internet Governance Forum (WAIGF) held in Abuja, Nigeria in 2025. The event brought together stakeholders from 15 West African countries to discuss building a resilient, inclusive, and safe digital future for the region. Key components included a high-level plenary, multi-stakeholder panels, and specialized tracks for youth and parliamentarians.

The forum produced several important outcomes. A comprehensive communiqué was presented, outlining recommendations on digital public infrastructure, AI and data governance, digital sustainability, youth education, inclusion, cybersecurity, and parliamentary engagement. The parliamentarians issued a separate declaration committing to legislative actions supporting digital transformation in West Africa.

Participants highlighted the success of the West African School on Internet Governance and the Youth IGF track. The ECOWAS Commissioner pledged support for future forums and urged quick follow-up on recommendations. Organizers announced that the 2026 host country would be determined later.

The session concluded with multiple votes of thanks, recognizing the efforts of the local organizing committee, ECOWAS, and various partners. Speakers emphasized the importance of youth participation and regional cooperation in shaping West Africa’s digital future. The forum was noted for its high attendance, with around 700 online and 600 in-person participants, marking it as one of the most successful WAIGFs to date.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– Updates from national Internet Governance Forums across West African countries

РPresentation of communiqu̩s from the parliamentary track and overall forum

– Recommendations on digital policy, AI governance, cybersecurity, youth engagement, and regional cooperation

– Recognition of organizers, participants and partners involved in the forum

– Planning for next year’s West Africa IGF and potential host countries

Overall purpose:

The purpose of this discussion was to conclude the 2025 West Africa Internet Governance Forum by sharing outcomes, recognizing contributions, and planning future activities to advance internet governance in the region.

Tone:

The overall tone was formal yet appreciative. There was a sense of accomplishment and gratitude expressed throughout, with multiple speakers thanking organizers and participants. The tone became more celebratory towards the end as achievements were highlighted and future collaborations discussed.

Speakers

– Hajia Sani: Moderator

– Mary Uduma: Chair of the West Africa Internet Governance Forum

– Salisu Kaka: Representative from NITDA (National Information Technology Development Agency)

– Emmanuel Vitus: West African IGF Secretariat member

– Shuaib Afolabi Salisu: Senator, Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee

– Adedeji Stanley Olajide: Parliamentarian

РS̩diko Douka: ECOWAS Commission representative

Additional speakers:

– Ndukwe Kalu Foundation representative: Abdurezak Imam

– Francis: Ghana IGF Secretariat representative

– Youth IGF Benin representative

– Côte d’Ivoire IGF representative: Manny Saliou

– Nigeria IGF representative

Revised Summary of the 17th West African Internet Governance Forum (WAIGF) 2025 Closing Session

The 17th West African Internet Governance Forum (WAIGF) 2025, held in Abuja, Nigeria, concluded with a closing session that highlighted the event’s achievements and outlined future directions for internet governance in the region. The forum brought together stakeholders from 15 West African countries, focusing on building a resilient, inclusive, and safe digital future for West Africa.

Key Highlights and Outcomes

1. Participation and Structure:

The forum included high-level plenaries, multi-stakeholder panels, and specialised tracks for youth and parliamentarians. Notably, parliamentarians from 10 West African countries participated, demonstrating strong governmental engagement in digital policy discussions.

2. West African School on Internet Governance:

A significant moment in the closing session was the presentation of certificates to participants of the West African School on Internet Governance. Mary Uduma, Chair of the West Africa Internet Governance Forum, highlighted this as a major success of the event.

3. Parliamentarians’ Communique:

Senator Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, read a communique from the parliamentarians. Key points included:

– The need to harmonize data protection and digital governance laws across the region

– Strengthening the West Africa Parliamentarian Network on Internet Governance (WAPNIG)

– Encouraging parliaments to engage in capacity building on digital governance

– Emphasizing the importance of drafting inclusive digital legislation

4. Forum Recommendations:

Emmanuel Vitus, representing the West African IGF Secretariat, presented the forum’s key recommendations:

– Establishing an ECOWAS digital policy integration task force

– Developing regional standards for ethical AI and responsible data governance

– Creating a West African digital sustainability pact

– Expanding innovation hubs and integrating digital literacy into education systems

– Enhancing cooperation among national regulators

– Creating a regional cybersecurity framework

5. Youth Engagement:

The forum placed significant emphasis on youth participation in internet governance. Recommendations included providing mentorship, funding, and capacity building for youth initiatives. Salisu encouraged youth to take an active role in shaping the digital future and to use the internet responsibly.

6. ECOWAS Support:

Sédiko Douka, representing the ECOWAS Commission, pledged support for future forums and urged quick follow-up on recommendations. He suggested submitting proposals early to ensure ECOWAS backing.

7. National IGF Updates:

Representatives from various countries provided updates on their national Internet Governance Forums:

– Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire announced plans to hold their national IGFs in June

– Nigeria was planning its forum for September

– Togo reported on its successful Internet Governance School and Youth IGF held in May

8. Future Events:

Upcoming events mentioned included the Africa IGF in Tanzania and an event in Maui in June.

9. Recognition and Appreciation:

The Local Organizing Committee received special recognition from Senator Salisu for their efforts. Mary Uduma also acknowledged the diversity of the West African IGF Secretariat team.

10. Next Host Country:

While the importance of announcing the next host country for WAIGF 2026 was noted, the decision was deferred for later determination. Several countries expressed interest in hosting.

Conclusion

The closing session of WAIGF 2025 demonstrated a shared vision for internet governance in West Africa, suggesting potential for coordinated action and policy development across the region. The success of the West African School on Internet Governance and the Youth IGF track were particularly highlighted.

Key takeaways included the need for regional policy harmonization, enhanced youth engagement, parliamentary involvement in digital governance, and strengthened cooperation among West African countries. While specific implementation plans and funding mechanisms for proposed initiatives remain to be determined, the forum laid a strong foundation for future progress in West African internet governance.

The overall tone of the session was appreciative, with a sense of accomplishment expressed by participants. As Mary Uduma, who mentioned her upcoming 73rd birthday, concluded, the forum represented a significant step forward in shaping the digital future of West Africa.

Hajia Sani: Once again, let me thank each and every one of us for keeping the faith and for standing by and sitting in throughout the five day session we’ve started since Monday through to today for all your questions, for your robust participation, which we appreciate. I think we all deserve a round of applause. Please, let’s give ourselves a hand. Thank you very much. So this is the order in which final plenary is going to take. We’re going to, the next session we’re going to start with will be an open mic. Microphones will be provided shortly, which will take round and give maybe one per set of rules so that we can have your feedback. It’s not just for those who are on the high table to talk. It’s for us to hear how, what your impressions were of this entire event that enables us to plan better for the next one by the grace of God. So that mic will come. The technical team are already on standby. Once we start the open mic session, we’ll expect each and every one of us to contribute to the best of our ability, please. It’s not, we’re not going to put anybody on the spot, but we’d like to hear what you think of the whole session. Not just today’s one, but including the ones that we had before. Right after that, we’re going to take national IGF updates from member countries, as you’re well aware. This is a West Africa IGF. So it means that we have representatives from other countries outside of Nigeria, and they will be telling us their updates. of the IGFs that they held in their respective countries and would collate all of that to add value to the final IGF communique and report that we’re going to submit to the global IGF. Immediately after the national IGF updates, we’ll present the communique for this particular 2025 West African Summit. West Africa IGF communique will take a vote of thanks from I think about four, five, yeah, five different groups. We’ll have the Senate, the legislature, the parliamentary or legislative body. We’ll have a mission. We’ll also have from our own IGF, ECOWAS IGF, as well as our local IGF, that’s the Local Organizing Committee. Each one of them will stand before us to give their vote of thanks and their own impression of our participation. I personally want to say a huge thank you. Let me take a bow to each and every one of us for being patient, for being orderly, and for staying the time. It’s not easy in this day and age when everybody’s struggling to make ends meet to spend this much time in a conference. So thank you all and may God bless you for your time. So just give us a few minutes and we’ll start the open mic. Yeah, yeah, that’s what we’ll start, yeah. So if we can have the microphones, please. We’re going to take it row by row. All right, I’m told, thank you, I’m told that we have some partners who may want to say a word or two. Are they in-house here? Do we have any of the partners available? I’m not seeing any, that’s why I was asking. Is there anyone that has indicated they’d like to speak? Do we have any of the partners? Yes, I can see a hand. Please do come forward. Thank you. Please do identify yourself and the group that you belong to. Thank you.

Ndukwe Kalu Foundation: Okay, good afternoon everyone. My name is Abdurezak Imam. I’m from Ndukwe Kalu Foundation. Ndukwe Kalu Foundation is a CSR taken out of Nigeria Internet Registration Association. So, as a sign of respect to our first ever president, who is in Mr. Ndukwe Kalu, who actually passed away during his active service in his office back in Lagos, we decided to separate the CSR and name it after him as a sign of respect. And that’s why we have it as Ndukwe Kalu Foundation, a CSR of Nigeria Internet Registration Association. Basically, what we do is in line with three basic mandates. And these mandates are governed by our respected board of trustees, who are all formerly members and presidents of Nigeria Internet Institution Association and other known MDAs, government parastatals, and some of the private sector stakeholders. Before I go into the mandates, I’ll quickly name some of the trustees we are currently having. We have a former president and also chief executive officer of, I think we call it a CEO or something like that, of Nigeria Internet Institution Association, which have been one of the first ever leading president of Nigeria Internet Institution Association. We’re seeing, who is by the name, Mrs. Mary Uduma, who is also one of the chairs of the West African Internet Governors Forum. I thank you. She’s probably known as Mama Mary Uduma, Mama Internet, grandmother of the internet and all. She also served at NCC, by the way. We also have, one of the members also is the Nira president, who is by name, Adesola Akinsoya. We also have some other previous members, who is also a leader in Nine Mobile, one of the directors. We also have the wife of the Ndukwe Kalu and all the family members itself, which is a statutory position. The position is not taken by any other person except by his family member. So we have his wife, who is Mrs. Ndukwe Kalu, Nnena, precisely, and other few people I cannot mention here. So what we do basically is, First of all, to promote child online protection, initiatives of awareness of the Nigerian Communications Commission. While doing that, we also take into consideration the regulatory aspects underlying that initiative itself, which is from the Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency. Also, last but not the least, we try to, as much as we do what we do, also try to promote the .ng brand, which is coming from Nira. So that means NCAF is a Bermuda Triangle controlled by NCC, NIDA, and Nira, but we are independent. So what we do at Child Online Protection is to support initiatives from small organizations to the bigger ones, and also to see how we can push the awareness across all different stakeholders from the parent, guidance student, and any other stakeholders that are involved in doing this. This is a very new space, and if you were around a day ago or two days ago, we had a discussion surrounding that aspect where one of the NCC members were trying to explain that the strategy document or the policy has currently been drafted and is awaiting the presidential launch. That’s the ministerial launch by the minister. So that’s currently what we are waiting for, and it’s going to be a very big leap for us being able to use that document to continue pushing the mandate. Secondly, what we’ll do is, understanding that most of the cyber attacks and threat that is currently happening is due to the lack of knowledge, lack of capacity support or development, lack of sub-regional or local push from some of the NGOs or some of the very busy MDs or government partners that are doing this. They don’t have all the strength to do this, and what we do is that… From the fund, or from the support we are getting from our parent organizations, or MDAs, we try to push into capacity development. And since we started, since I resumed office 2021-2022, and since NKF have been in existence since 2015-14, we’ve tried to see how we can roll out trainings every quarter, which currently is what we have been doing when I resumed. We give scholarship quarterly. We try to also sponsor some of the organizations we have been working with to go into the six geopolitical zones in launching some of these trainings for us where we cannot showcase ourselves. After that, what we try to do is also to support university undergraduates, postgraduates, and also at the PhD levels, with a very small grant to support the researchers that are related to the sector and also the telecommunications industry. So these are some of the things that we are currently really open to collaboration, more communities and regional levels to support these initiatives. Thank you for the opportunity. I really appreciate it.

Hajia Sani: Thank you very much. Another round of applause for the Ndupe Kalu Foundation. They’ve done quite a lot indeed. I remember last year, the Voice of Nigeria featured about five of their major events. These were classical events. They had one in Lagos. They had two in Abuja. They had one in Kano. I think one was taken to Port Harcourt. We try to encourage what they do, and we give it as much publicity as we can. because of the values that we expect that Nigerians can derive from them. Thank you so much, Ndukwe Kalu Foundation. We truly appreciate your efforts. Please, those of you who run research centers and stuff, reach out to them, get in touch with them, start a collaboration, move forward together. And when you work together, you achieve more together. Thank you so much. I’m going to call on Mitda now. I think we have, Engineer Salisu Kaka is here. He should speak on behalf of Mitda, one of the main organizers of this very interesting event. Thank you.

Salisu Kaka: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I, once again, greet you and thank you for your patience and perspiration to be with us for almost five days since we started this event. I work with Mitda and I believe the audience that are here have sufficient information about Mitda, but at least for the record and particularly for our guests online, briefly about Mitda, I think it’s not a bad idea to re-echo that. Mitda is an agency of governments. We are primarily mandated by the federal government of Nigeria to regulate the developments of the IT sector as a whole. And we started our activity way back 2001 with some skeletal services pull out of the quest for the country to have a direction on utilizing the conventional IT infrastructure. Until 2007, when we have an act that’s tentatively established us, which gave us the power to set off all the necessary regulatory instruments that can allow us to… define standards, regulate and request for compliance of these standards. So that has really helped us to have a little faster speed in terms of provision of those policy documents to enable the environment and allow the ecosystems to grow at their own pace. We have done much to some extent and it’s not a bad idea to mention some new initiatives that we feel they are of importance and it gives us a lot of leverage. We believe that government alone cannot regulate, means the regulation of the sector is a collective responsibility of everyone. So also trying to link with the activities of the Ndukukalu Foundations, when the Nigeria got the hosting, I mean the right to manage the NG, and I think one good thing we came out with was for government to re-delegate that authority to an entity, hence that was led to the permission of Nigeria Internet Registration Association, NIRA. So NIRA as an NGO was given the authority to manage all the activities of the NG at the top level, so that sort of democratized the process, it enables private sector and public sector participation. We just identified some few second level domains and we qualified them as closed domains because of some sensitivity. Those are the governmentsdomain.gov, the educationdomain.edu and militarydomain.mil. Those ones are being registered or administered by the public sector. NIDA and the Galaxy Backbone are the registered still for those domains, but every other domains, first level, second level, third level, up to the post level, private sectors do the registration. Another thing, as things evolve, which we did and we feel we are proud of that approach, was also to see how do we get closer to the private sector again and how do we draw them closer so that at least we play that participatory role so that we complement the airport of each other. So we established two special purpose vehicles. One is the National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, leveraging on the emergence of these emerging technologies and the impact they are creating in the society that they have come to stay. So the better, the more we prepare to organize ourselves and take advantage of the potential that are there, I think it’s necessary for us to have direction and connect to the global. So that center, National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, was there to provide a platform in terms of infrastructure and also a platform in terms of planning and education on these emerging technologies. Blockchains, AI, robotics, big data analytics, machine learning, all stuff like that. So this center has been on way back to 2019 and is still off and running and activities are happening again. So the idea of NCA is to create those innovative and entrepreneurial capabilities among the students, among the individuals, among organizations. Then we also see the needs to connect this innovative and entrepreneurial skills to how do we bring from innovations, from ideation to innovation to reality and how do we commercialize this. So we feel the need to also establish the office of the National Digital Innovation to take as output of the NCA and put these innovators, put these entrepreneurs, mentor them so that how they can commercialize their solutions. So we have lots, a number of, within our ecosystems, innovators, individual to small scale MSMEs are there and they’re exploring these things. The last thing we also did was, when the needs, when the digitalization is leveraging largely on the data, there is need for the country to see how do we put the necessary safeguards to ensure that privacy of individuals, as they coordinate or they become digital and do their lives online, is giving necessary protections, so that at least they appreciate the digital life as compared with the conventional life. Because if you allow people to come online and that they end up experiencing bad experience about online, they’ll go back to their digital, I mean the conventional. So as a stopgap, we came up with the National Data Protection Regulations, still 2021, and that has been an interim measure to allow us to run data protection. And we are proud, I think, across Africa, we are the first to come out with that National, Nigerian data protections. We’re following what happens to the UNDP and European data protection. So the little effort we put forward there and the impact it created, the federal government see the need to combat this data protection regulation into a full commission. So we are proud, as of 2023, the federal government established National Data Protection Commission, with full power to operate on their own. So those really are the efforts we’re pushing and all together trying to ensure that that collaboration, that partnership is mainstreamed to the extent all our regulatory instruments, we adopt what you call diplomatic regulations. We bring all the stakeholders, throw the idea to them. relative to the situations we find ourselves, whether there is a draft of the policy, or we allow the community to co-create those policies. And that has been helping us, particularly when it comes to compliance, because if right from the developmental stage, or from the design stage of this regulatory instrument, the stakeholders who are supposed to be the consumers or implementers of this instrument, they are part of the process. So we can get there right from the beginning. So by the time it’s out and government throw out this instrument, compliance will be very seamless, will be easy, because there’s already a connection between you and the instrument that you’re asked to comply with. So that has been helping us, and we feel we also continue on this trend, and we observe the space and see how the trends evolve, and that we try to align ourselves with the reality. Again, we come up with what we call intelligence regulatory instruments. So as we throw these instruments, we don’t just allow them to move, or we will review them based on that. We observe how our connection with this reality, how impactful are they, what are the feedbacks we are getting. So through this intelligence framework, we get feedbacks, and we identify where we got it right, we identify where there’s a complete gap there, and we identify where we need to improve on that. So that has been helping us, and the relationship between governments and the private sector, particularly the tech ecosystems, the picture is getting brighter by the day, and we believe with this collaboration approach, we will maintain the tide, we’re definitely going to grow the digital economy, not only in Nigeria, but across the whole Africa, as far as the world we can go. Thank you.

Hajia Sani: Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Engineer Kaka. Thank you so very much. We’re going to take the West Africa IGF now. Madam Mary. Mama Internet.

Mary Uduma: Mama Internet. Thank you. Are you taking me now or when we are doing the closing? Thanks. Okay. Yes. It’s open mic. Okay. So, at this time, anybody can ask any question and you can say anything. You can comment. You can tell us when we didn’t do it well and how we can improve more. But if there’s a particular question you want to ask us, we are here to answer. You can show her. She’ll bring the mic if actually you want to ask a question or comment. We have somebody raising his hand. Sorry. I’m just going to give the mic to the man.

Audience: Good evening, everybody. It’s been a long five days and it’s a very, very kudos to the organizers of the West Africa Internet Governance Forum 2025. And it’s no walk in the park to actually put up this kind of event. So, I want to comment on possibly things that can actually go into the planning for the next forum. So, one is as regards the issue of participation. So, I think maybe since we have the parliamentary sessions, so we could also see more on how young people from within the sub region, where we can actually get possibly the government or organizations to commit to at least sponsorship. of more young people to be able to attend. Because I understand there are quite a lot of people that actually join virtually. So if after there was travel support, they could actually join in actually. So even if it’s a quota system of saying, okay, government sponsor 20 people to WADIF every year, we’ll actually have more people. And it’s we the kind of conversations we are going to be having is going to be more robust. And it’s going to be more sub-regional that is capturing the views of people within the West African sub-region. So that’s one. And secondly, within, I also expected that for Nigeria, we are supposed to show our capacity as a giant of Africa, at least this ball should actually be filled to the brim. So in terms of possibly we have about three universities along this path. So maybe those within the faculty of maybe software, data science and all that, getting them to actually come to participate in these and more publicity in that light will actually make it more enriching and get more young people to do. So those are my thoughts as regards to that. So well done to the organizers.

Mary Uduma: Thank you very much. Well, thank you. Please, a round of applause for him again. He has made good comments. We try to bring at least a youth from a member state of the ECOWAS. I think, can we see? I think somebody has gone, somebody from Ghana, but Cote d’Ivoire, any youth from Cote d’Ivoire? Can you raise your hand? Yes. Any youth from Benin? Any youth from Benin? Yes. There’s a youth from Benin. Any youth from the Gambia? Okay. The Ghana? I think Ghana has gone. Gambia? Oh, Ghana is here. Gambia? I think it’s Gambia that went. Any youth from Sierra Leone? Yes. From Liberia, we couldn’t get. Senegal, Senegal, and just to tell you that we do, but the number is not much. And here, students from NACOS, NACOS, we had NACOS, we had 50 of them, we brought them, 50 of them, or 50 something. So today, some of them are writing exams, so you can’t, and today is the last day, so the much we had, but your point is well noted. We should start conversing for support from now, after this meeting, for the next year, we don’t know where we are going. Are we going to Togo? Yeah, Togo, you have not hosted before, yeah? So maybe we are going to Togo next year, or Burkina Faso, if they will allow us to come, they are willing to host, but the political issue is a different kind of fish, so we leave it to the politicians. But we are willing to go to Burkina Faso, but let’s see how it works. They have joined online. Mali is here, a youth from Mali, yes, there’s a youth from Mali. So we, just to give you a little bit of it, okay? We have Togo, we have Mali, we have Republic of Benin, we have Gambia, the Gambia. So all of us are here, and we will try more next year to make sure that more of them will soon start. Thank you, you’re welcome, sir. Thank you. Okay, is there any other comment before we start? Our parliamentarians are not here, and in the parliamentary section, they also came, about nine countries, plus Nigeria making it 10. So we’re hoping we’ll do better next year, okay? Yes.

Ghana IGF Secretariat: Thank you, Mama Mary. My name is Francis from Ghana IGF Secretariat. Just to add to what my brother said, I think participation is very important. Yes, inasmuch that this number is not bad, I think we could have done better. And I see it is government who have the money, we may have the energy and the will to participate. So I’m very happy about the emergence of parliamentary track in Africa, West Africa, IGF. But I think we can go a step further, because when we get a government much involved, so probably in our various countries, I think we should get the government more involved, the parliamentarian, because if they’re much involved, that is when we get their buy-in to be able to support other people to attend. Because if each government from every country is saying, I’m sponsoring about 10 people to participate in various African IGF, I think we’ll have a better participation. So let’s get the government much involved, not just parliamentarians coming, but they should take it to their chamber to discuss and make it or not. Thank you.

Mary Uduma: Thank you. That’s a good one. Yes, somebody’s raising hand right from the back. You’re not supposed to be there. Yeah. But how do we get the mic to you? Come up. Come, come, come. Come, because the commissioner is here also. We’re waiting for the parliamentarians to come. They are doing their communique.

Audience: Hello. Yeah. Okay. Go ahead. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Ademe Fungwadere-Isola. I just want to speak briefly on this issue. So I noticed that there are some vital presentations that were made earlier yesterday, day before yesterday, towards the evening time. However, the major stakeholders of the West African internet governors, the politicians, and executives were not present. And it was just like it was left with. with the regular people, not regular per se, but then the people that the stakeholders who were supposed to be involved in this forum were not around. And it was just as if it was a waste of effort. There was nobody to comment on it. We’re looking for government stakeholders to comment on that particular issue and others too. So I want to suggest that maybe when we are drafting out, we understand that some of those people maybe left. They came early in the morning and left towards the evening time. But then if it’s possible for us to at least for every room. Yes, we know that there are some sessions that we have three rooms, one at the basement and the other basement. If it’s possible for us to designate people that would be present, like every private sector, the government, the NGOs, so that it won’t just be as if everybody is speaking and there is no implementation. Thank you.

Mary Uduma: Thank you very much. Good suggestion. Well taken. Yeah, we have national ideas here. We want to hear from them. We’ll start with Cote d’Ivoire, if you don’t mind. You can even speak in French. Any interpretation? Any headsets? Any interpretation? Any headsets, please? So we listen to Ghana. The Gambia, do you have your national ideas here? Benin? Ghana?

Ghana IGF Secretariat: OK. Mary, once again, for records, my name is Francis and I’m speaking for the Ghana Secretariat. So Ghana IGF this year, we’ve had a lot of restructuring. We integrated a new multi-stakeholder advisory group. We have a very tall group because we are trying to involve a lot of stakeholder groups. So it’s about 29 member stakeholder group. Magen, it’s been led by Honorable Lydia Lamisi, who is currently present here. The GAN IGF currently has, let me say, about four divisions. We have the National IGF, we have the Youth IGF, we have the GAN IGF School, and we have the Children IGF, which was introduced about three years ago, because we are trying to encourage the participation of young people. This year, our GAN IGF will be held on the 5th of June at Accra International Conference Center. We’re going to have it the same day with the youth on the same day as well as the Children IGF, so this is an update on GAN IGF.

Mary Uduma: We should be joining GAN IGF. The Gambia IGF, the Gambia IGF, Mariam is not here, she’s the chair of the Gambia IGF, and I think they are planning their National IGF as well. Ceylon, any improvement? Ceylon? Okay, so what are we expecting from Ceylon? We are planning our own next month, June. The school will be the 10th and the main IGF, the 11th. Okay, good. For some time, we have not heard from them. Benin has heard from them. Was it the youth only? We are actually planning the Youth IGF.

Youth IGF Benin: I represent the Youth IGF Benin, I’m the current coordinator, and we are planning our next Youth IGF from the 18th to 19th of July in the capital city, Porto Novo. Okay, so you’re all invited.

Hajia Sani: Thank you very much. Côte d’Ivoire, Côte d’Ivoire, yes, he has this thing here. Can you tell us, have you heard your IGF or your planning?

Côte d’Ivoire IGF: Excuse me, he is speaking in French. Good evening everyone. My name is Manny Saliou. I am representing the Ivory Coast, the Ivory Coast region. We are represented here with the city president, Mrs. Nguye, who is part of the Internet Governance School. So, we really want to thank Nigeria for the very warm welcome, for our participation in the West African Internet Governance Forum. We had the opportunity to organize it in 2023. This year, Nigeria took the lead. We really wanted to say thank you very much. We are taking this opportunity to inform you that the Ivory Coast is about to organize its national forum in June. If all goes well, it will be an opportunity for us to see those who are in Nigeria and those who want to participate as well. They are welcome in the Ivory Coast. Thank you very much.

Mary Uduma: Thank you. Okay, Ketvedi, I don’t know whether you are online. If you are not, I think you are holding yours next month, in June, while Niger will be in October. Do we have Nigeria? Who is speaking for Nigeria? Come. The chair. Yes, Nigeria.

Nigeria IGF: Okay, thank you very much. The Nigeria IGF. We’ve had our plans for September. later in the year. The reason being that when we had our planning, it was too close to the activities of this month and the next month. So we felt we should shift it a little bit so that we can do it in a grand style. And we’re inviting all our neighboring countries to come and join us. September, we’ll reach out to you by communicating with all of you. So youth, everybody, get ready. Thank you.

Mary Uduma: Thank you. We have school, and the coordinator of the school is here. Mali. Mali. I don’t know you speak English. Speaking of us, are you online? I know they are going to hold theirs. They are very active. We have Niger, we have Mali, we have Burkina Faso. They are all our members, and they belong to the West Africa Internet Governance Forum. So they hold their national initiatives at Wendu. Togo. Togo. Yes. Where is she? Okay. All right.

IGF Togo: Good evening everyone. I represent the IGF Togo community. Not only me, there is also the President Emmanuel Akbenor. For this year in Togo, we have already organized three events. We organized the Internet Governance School, which brought together 50 participants from various fields. Then we organized the IDF Youth, on May 6th, 2025, and also the IDF, on May 7th, 2025. The main theme of the IDF was digital transformation and artificial intelligence in Togo, so it was a framework of exchanges that brought together several stakeholders. There was the government, the private sector, civil society, and the technical community as well. So the discussions were linked to the issue of digital technology, and this was supported by recommendations that were made to all stakeholders, whether it was to reduce the digital fraction, the adoption of a responsible AI, and also the universality and acceptance of information. Thank you.

Mary Uduma: Thank you very much. We have the Gambia, I think they are going to hold theirs next month as well, so they are planning. So some of us, Togo has had their own, Benin has the youth, and we are hoping that others will follow as well. And some of our members were online. Some of the national IDF members, I know Bukunafasa, they followed online. And do we draw the curtain here? And then we’ll continue with the Melon Mary. Okay. Talk about the youth.

Audience: Hello. Hello. Yes, my name is Osei Kida for the record. I’m the West African Youth Coordinator, and I can see a lot of the young, vibrant people, young people here, and we need to come together. So you’re all invited us, young people to join the West African Youth IGF. Let’s collaborate together. Let’s take these decisions. Let’s move forward. The conversation must move forward. So please, let’s create that vibrancy. Thank you very much.

Mary Uduma: Thank you very much. Thank you, everyone. I hand over back to the coordinator, I mean, to the moderator.

Hajia Sani: Thank you very much, Madam Mary. Please, let’s give her another round of applause. Trust, Madam Mary, when she has the microphone, you want to listen. Thank you so very much. Thank you very much. We’ve had feedback from almost all the West African countries here present, and those who have joined us virtually. For those who we couldn’t link directly to give us their updates, I’m sure they’ll send it to us in writing by email. That said, we’re awaiting the arrival of parliamentarians, that’s the legislature. Those who have the parliamentary track, they’ve just concluded their work, and we understand they’re on their way in any moment now. So while we await their arrival, can we continue with our open mic? I’m sure one or two people still have something.

Emmanuel Vitus: Okay, so before Mary speaks, for those who don’t know, she’s celebrating 73 years in the next place, on Sunday. Did you hear the number? Seventy-three.

Mary Uduma: I see bouncing. I see bouncing. It’s the grace of God. Yeah. Is there a country that has not given us report? And the school. Ah, the school. We had members from all these countries we have mentioned. All right. And we have your certificates ready. I hope you are here to receive your certificates. Since the commissioner is here, the parliamentarians will be here. I want them to witness those that were here and would want them to congratulate you as you receive your certificates. Anybody saying anything? Any comment? Yes, I just, may we all rise, please.

Hajia Sani: May we all rise, please. Apologies for the elders who I’ve had to ask to stand up. That said, I’m going to start the count of three and then we’ll sing She’s a Jolly Good Fellow. One, two, three. She’s a jolly good fellow. She’s a jolly good fellow. She’s a jolly good fellow. And so say all of us. And so say all of us. And so say all of us. She’s a jolly good fellow. She’s a jolly good fellow. She’s a jolly good fellow. And so say our love for us. Happy birthday. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Mary Uduma: Thank you my grandchildren. Thank you. Thank you so much. Grandmother physically, grandmother virtually. Do you understand that? Digital grandmother.

Hajia Sani: We have a cake for her. It’s supposed to be a surprise but I have to let the cat out because we’re sending invitations to those who have been invited to honour you. Thank you so very much everyone for joining us to honour her. Thank you Ma. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the parliamentarians here present. As I mentioned to you earlier, they are the special guests we’ve been expecting to commence this final session. of this West Africa Internet Governance Forum 2025. Please put your hands together to welcome our parliamentarians. That lap is hungry. I need the one that is belifu. Thank you very much. Thank you so very much. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you again for taking the time to stay with us till the end of this session. Let me quickly call on my colleague Emmanuel Vitus to proceed with the announcement for this current session before we take the communiqué. Thank you.

Emmanuel Vitus: Okay, so before we have the event, final communiqué, I think that’s what everybody’s waiting for. I will allow the parliamentarian track to give us, because it was a closed-door session, and when it’s a closed-door session, we are all curious to know what is going on behind those So, I will kindly invite the chairman, distinguished senator, to come and give us the final communiqué of their work. Thank you. Please, a round of applause for him.

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu: Please, you can do better. You know, one of the fortunes you can have is for some wonderful people to do a very good job, and then they choose you to go and read it, and for a moment, you look like you are very intelligent, not knowing that you are drawing power from the cloud, of very beautiful health and resources that I’ve gathered. So I speak here not for myself. What you’re going to hear is not of me, but I have the fortune to work with place my colleagues, please stand up for recognition, please stand up. Please, so these are the people that I’ve come to represent from Ghana to Gambia to Liberia to Sierra Leone to Senegal to Côte d’Ivoire to Benin Republic to Nigeria. And these people, they have been very, very hard working in the last two days. So when I say we, these are the we. And then on the other hand as well, there’s Mariam and Benjamin. Mariam, please stand up. Don’t be shy, you know, don’t be shy. Mariam is one of the most efficient reporters anyone could have. By the next time the United Nations General Secretary office is open and Africa is to nominate, I nominate her in advance. Thank you so much. So having said that much, please, please receive your seat. Thank you so much. The Honorable Commissioner, Echo has a lot of thank you again for the support you have been here, our sister mayor has been here, the Chairman Local Organizing Committee, Dr. Warare, the Legislative Council, Keka, Noruba Dijola, and of course Meta has been there with us all along. Mama 73, I’m wondering where you get your energy from. She’s 73. Goddamn. Ah, sometimes I begin to think you are using artificial intelligence to power your energy. Now, let me now read on behalf of the parliamentarians. We parliamentarians. of 10 West African countries gathered at the West African Internet Governance Forum on May 22 and 23, 2025 in Abuja, Nigeria. We recognize the transformative potential of digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, in shaping a resilient, inclusive, and safe digital future for our region. We acknowledge the critical role that parliaments play in developing legislative frameworks that not only facilitate technological advanced achievement but also safeguard the rights and welfare of our citizens. Guided by our shared commitment to inclusive, rights-based, and sustainable digital development, we acknowledge the vital role of parliamentarians in shaping the digital transformation agenda through legislative oversight and representation. We recognize regional and global policy frameworks, including but not limited to the African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy, the African Digital Compact, the Malabo Convention, the Global Digital Compact, the West’s Policy Review Process, and the Sustainable Development Goals. We affirm our resolve to contribute to a digitally-empowered West Africa that leaves no one behind. We emphasize the urgent need for comprehensive awareness-raising initiatives to educate citizens about the implications of digital technologies and the associated opportunities and risks. We express our concern about the potential misuse of technologies, including issues related to privacy, data protection, and the risk of algorithm bias. As such, we commit to developing robust legislative measures that will establish clear guidelines for the ethical use of AI and protect our citizens from its potential harms. We urge all member states to monitor the establishment of national digital… Tetsu Onlos, and to engage in regional cooperation to harmonize these frameworks across West Africa. Recognizing that data is a valuable national asset, we call for legislation that ensures fair revenue sharing from data generated in our countries. We believe that local data should be leveraged to attract tech companies to invest in our region, to foster economic growth and technological innovation. We also highlight the importance of building digital infrastructure to enhance connectivity and resilience in our digital ecosystems. We urge our government to invest in this infrastructure and to foster equitable partnerships with private sectors to ensure that our digital environments are secure and accessible to all. Furthermore, we acknowledge the need for inclusive policies that promote digital skills training, particularly for the youth. We encourage revising our educational curriculum to include digital literacy and AI education, ensuring that future generations of West Africans are equipped to navigate the complexity of the digital world. In light of these above, we, the parliamentarians, commit to the following. Number one, capacity building. We will create a platform for parliamentarians and our support to digital governance, AI, cybersecurity, data protection, and other emerging technologies to enhance our legislative capabilities. In addition, we encourage other arms of government to embark on various capacity building initiatives to ensure a global awareness of these technologies. Number two, collaborative and legislative frameworks. We will collaborate across the region. to create and implement frameworks that harmonize and reflect regional realities and protect our regional interests. We want to use harmonized data policies and legal frameworks across the African region to support cross-border innovation and digital security. Number three, regional cooperation. We want to harmonize our data protection and digital governance laws to facilitate cross-border collaboration and ensure a cohesive, comprehensive, and consistent regional approach. Number four, youth engagement. Recognizing the importance of youth and the true population of our country, we must facilitate in digital governance discussions and initiatives, creating pathways for their involvement in shaping our digital future. Number five, data sovereignty. We commit to advancing legislation that strengthens the resilience and safety of national data, treating it as a national asset, while promoting seamless cross-border data exchange. Number six, transparency and accountability. Transparency and accountability between the legislators and other relevant stakeholders, including civil society, the technical community, and journalists. Number seven, ethical AI development. We will encourage ethical, transparent, and inclusive approaches to the development, use, deployment, and governance of AI and other emerging technologies in our region. Number eight, cross-border innovation. We will use harmonized data policies and legal frameworks across the region to support cross-border innovation and digital security. Number nine, inter-parliamentary cooperation. We will continue to engage in inter-parliamentary cooperation and inter-stakeholder dialogue through the West African Parliamentary Network and Internet Governance to build a unified voice for West Africa in a global digital space. We will also work with partners to find innovative ways to shape programs that will continue to build capacity in digital governance for parliamentarians and our staff. Number ten, stronger voices in global governance. We will advance a open society approach at national and regional levels to ensure that our interests, priorities, and realities are reflected and mutually considered in inter-governance processes. Number eleven, leveraging billing parliamentary terms, recognizing the potential of parliamentarians. We will also continue to engage and tap into the resources, expertise, and experiences of other parliamentarians and stakeholders. And lastly, funding budget allocations for dedicated budget allocations that support parliamentarians’ participation in digital governance processes, including capacity building and inter-parliamentary cooperation. In conclusion, we call upon the Internet Governance Forum sectariat, innovation and goodwill initiatives, companies, and developing partners to support inter-governance resources, tools, services, and engagement platforms. We urge the private sector, civil society, youth, and the technical community to continue working in partnership with parliamentarians. to shape a digital future that serves the public good. This declaration represents our collective vision and commitment as West Afghan parliamentarians to give legislative leadership, full Saudi-bina collaboration, to support a digital transformation that is resilient, inclusive, secure, and sustainable. Data Disney Friday, 2013-2025.

Hajia Sani: Thank you so very, very much. Please, another very resounding. This applause has to be resounding. Needs to keep going. I don’t know how many of us actually listened to all of the things that he just read out. But for me, this is the Bible that would elevate digital transformation in the West African region. Please, another round of applause. Thank you so very much to all our parliamentarians. We truly appreciate time is running fast behind us. So we’re going to try and hasten this up. It’s time to present the official communique of this West Africa Internet Governance Forum. To do justice to that is Emmanuel Vitus. Go ahead.

Emmanuel Vitus: Why justice? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Senator. After listening to the parliamentarians communique, I think it’s what we want to actually read. But well, the youths were not quoted, so let’s go ahead. 17th edition of the West African Internet Governance Forum. Building a Resilient, Inclusive, and Safe Digital Future for West Africa Communiqué We, the participants of the 17th edition of the West African Internet Governance Forum, meeting in Abuja and online, on behalf of the Internet Governance bodies of the following 15 West African countries Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo With the participation and support of the following partners ECOWAS Commission, Federal Republic of Nigeria, United Nations, Internet Society, Internet Society Foundation, Internet Governance Forum Supporting Association, National Information Technology Development Agency NIDDA, Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, ICANN, META, Diplo Foundation, Internet Society Youth Standing Group, Paradigm Initiative, Ndukwe Kalu Foundation, Africa Center for Digital Transformation, and the Nigeria Internet Registration Association, NIRA Recalling the outcome of the previous editions of the West Africa IGF and the collective efforts made to promote open, inclusive, and secure digital spaces in the region, reaffirming the need for action-oriented strategies that prioritize sustainable and equitable digital development supported by robust institutions and inclusive dialogue mechanisms, acknowledging the increasing relevance of artificial intelligence, digital public infrastructure, data governance, digital rights and regional policy harmonization in ensuring resilient digital future for West Africa, we the stakeholders at the West African IGF 2025 state the following. Report that the 2024 forum included a high-level plenaries, multi-stakeholder panels and dynamic track focus on emerging technologies, right-based governance, sustainability and youth engagement. The West African School on Internet Governance, WASIG, the West African Youth IGF and the parliamentarian track were successfully held as integral parts of the YGF 2025 and their recommendations have been incorporated into this communique. WASIG participants developed seven strategic policy proposals including regional funding mechanism, data governance frameworks, digital inclusion roadmaps and local language content development strategy all aligned with the WSIS plus 20 goals. The forum acknowledged the growing complexity and interdependence of internet governance and reaffirmed that regional alignment with the global digital compact and WSIS plus 20 priorities is essential. The host country for West African IGF 2026 will be announced at a later date. We recommend the following actions on digital public infrastructure and policy harmonization. We recommend the establishment of ECOWAS digital policy integration task force to guide regional coordination efforts. Member states should open nationalize the digital observatory to track the alignments and implementation of digital policy frameworks. and enhanced cooperation among national regulators for cross-border DPI systems. On artificial intelligence data governance and innovation, we urge all West African countries to adopt inclusive national AI strategies tailored to local contexts. Regional standards for ethical AI and responsible data governance should be developed and adopted. Furthermore, we call for support towards the creation of cost-relevant AI tools and data sets, especially in local languages and priority sectors. On digital sustainability, we support the development of a West African digital sustainability pact. This pact should encourage the use of renewable energy to promote e-waste management practices and stimulate climate resilient digital innovation. We also advocate for environmental incentive and research collaboration that monitor and redress the environmental impacts of ICT expansion. On youth education and innovation, we encourage member states to recognize young people as key partners in digital developments. These include expanding innovation hubs, integrating digital literacy into education system, and fostering an intergenerational dialogue on governance. We emphasize the need for mentorship, funding, and capacity building tailored to youth-led initiatives. On inclusion and right-based access, we reaffirm our commitment to universal acceptance, equitable connectivity, and participation of all communities, particularly women. persons with disabilities, and those in rural areas. Policies to protect children online must be inclusive and co-designed with young people, ensuring alignment with cultural and social realities. On cybersecurity and digital trust, we recommend the creation of a regional cybersecurity framework that enhance cooperation and rapid response capacity. Awareness campaign and cybersecurity training must be scaled up to empower civil society, small businesses, and institutions to address involving threats. Regulatory frameworks must also guarantee the protection of personal data and promote digital trust. On parliamentary engagements and legal framework, we support the strengthening of the West Africa Parliamentarian Network on Internet Governance, WAPNIC, as a platform for ongoing legislative dialogue. Harmonized digital law should be developed and parliaments across the region should receive the necessary support to draft inclusive and forward-looking legislations. On multi-stakeholder cooperation and globalization of the YGF secretariat to support coordination and knowledge sharing, mechanisms should be developed to enable the region active and cohesive participation in global forums, including WSIS Plus 20 and the Global Digital Compact with unified African positions and strong representation. Lastly, we express our appreciation to the host country, Nigeria, and all supporting organizations for their unwavering commitment to building strong, inclusive, and resilient digital future for West Africa. We reaffirm our collective responsibility to ensure that digital development in our region remains human-centric, equitable, and grounded in the principles of cooperation and rights-based governance. Adopted in Abuja, Nigeria, 23 May 2025, YGF 2025. Thank you.

Hajia Sani: Thank you very much, Emmanuel. Please, let’s give him another round of applause. It was a very long communique, but we needed to capture everything that we did over the last five days. So, we thank everybody for your attention, and we’re going to move on straight away to the next session, which is the presentation of certificates to those who attended 2025 West Africa Internet Governance School. Please, Madam Mary Uduma, there’s a mic already on the stand. So, we just have, where is it, Muriel? Okay.

Mary Uduma: Good evening, everyone. Our protocols, respectively, observed, so that we will not waste the time and try the patience of our dignitaries. Honourable Commissioners, Chairman of the Mic, we have three sets. We’ll call the first 12, and you will give them their certificates, and then we’ll take questions. pictures with you. Honorable Commissioner will call the second turn. You’ll take pictures with them. And Honorable Stanley will call the last set and you’ll take pictures with them. So Mary, do you need a mic? Yes, okay. You have a mic. So call the first 12 names because we have about 42 of them.

Hajia Sani: Your vote of thanks and statement, please. Thank you, sir. The mic.

Sédiko Douka: In French or in English?

Hajia Sani: Whichever one you’re comfortable with.

Sédiko Douka: Honourable parliamentarians, representatives of the Ministry of the Federal Republic of Niger and all the other delegates present here, so we are at the end of our meeting. On behalf of the ECWAS President, His Excellency Omar Ali Othuri, I would like to thank all the stakeholders who have contributed to the success of this forum. I would like to thank the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, through the Ministry in charge of telecommunication, as well as all the partners that helped to organize this event here in Abuja. Thanks also to the group of members of parliamentarians who spare no effort in their support and active participation. The presence of these personalities is so important for us that it will enable us to give the younger generation, who are strongly represented in this forum, valuable advice on how to use the internet or to use telecommunication instruments. I can assure you that the ECOWAS Commission will always play its part when it comes to support countries, intergovernmental organizations, civil society and NGOs in various forms of support and intervention. Honorable, I think, is it Afolabi? No. No, not the name, Shuaib. Yes, yes, Afolabi. Excuse me. So, Honorable Shuaib, so I assure you that we are waiting your final communique and we will see what assistance that ECOWAS can do. And it’s better to do it as early as possible before the end of the year. You know, most of the time, the end of the year, the budget is exhausted. So, maybe next week or anyway, you will have, it’s better to have your document. So, we will take it not in our budget. So, also ECOWAS is ready to organize the future additions or to co-organize with other stakeholders, partners for the West African Internet Governance. And me, I think that it’s better to know before the end of this year, the next host country, I think it’s better. So, in order to have more time for the preparation. So, on this note, I thank you for your kind attention. Thank you very much.

Hajia Sani: Hmm. Another round of applause, please. Another round of applause. Thank you so much. He just offered that the West African ECOWAS Commission is going to support the next host of the West Africa Internet Thank you so very much. We truly appreciate it. It is my privilege and honor to also invite to the high table, for a vote of thanks, Senator Shuaib Afolabi Salisu. Thank you.

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu: I’m not going to do any vote of thanks. All members of LOC, please come on the stage. This vote of thanks is for you. All members of LOC, please come, come, come. If there’s any group of people to be thanked, it is these people. Please, all members of LOC, please come on the high table, on the podium. This is the chairman of LOC. These are the people who have been at the receiving end of my terrorism in the last few weeks. Please come, come, come. They have done such a very wonderful job. And I therefore thought it would not be nice of me not to showcase those who have put this together. I called them very late in the night. I harassed them to come here during the weekend. I looked for everything that could be wrong. You have done such a wonderful job. You have done very well on behalf of our country. You have done very well on behalf of our region. Two weeks ago, most of the facilities here were not working. And one after the other, I was harassing you, and you put all of this together. I just thought you should know that we didn’t take that for granted. I also see that people from other regions, people from other countries have come here, and we have put our very best foot forward. I want to thank you so much from the chairman, to the people in NCC, to the people from the National Assembly, to NIDA, to all the staff. My college had to come because of For the first time, I saw you. 50 years down the line, this is a new phase of ECOWAS. These are the future of our region. And I’m extremely delighted that your offer that I communicated with you will not just be paperwork. You are willing to support us. We’re going to be knocking at your door from next week to see what we can do next. Mary, you’re such a very wonderful soul. I never met you until about two or three days ago, but I kept calling you even at odd hours. You were in transit one day. So, to all the youth, please take charge of this. You can no longer complain that space has not been provided. Internet has no respect for parliamentary status. Internet has been democratized. Use internet responsibly. That’s where your voice will be heard. Look forward to meeting all of you again. And for this team, for this wonderful team, sometime next week, we’re going to have a lunch to celebrate this. Thank you and God bless you all.

Hajia Sani: Thank you so very much, please another round of applause for this wonderful group of people. This wonderful LOC. Very quickly, let me also with existing protocol observed and very duly diligently request Honorable Stanley Adedeji Olajide to please come give a vote of thanks on behalf of the parliamentarians. Thank you.

Adedeji Stanley Olajide: Good afternoon, bonsoir, don’t be worried, you are more lethal than I am. Well, first of all, thank you all on behalf of all the parliamentarians here from Sierra Leone, to Liberia, to Niger, Ghana, Senegal, from Kano. from Nigeria. We want to say thank you to all the partners. Thank you so much to all the participants. Thank you to all the organizers, the chairman, my colleague. Thank you for putting this together. You know, you’re such a, I’ve seen you say thank you to so many people, but let me use this opportunity also on behalf of my colleagues to say thank you to you. You have been wonderful. You’re such a thorough, diligent, powerful speaker, and I couldn’t have a better partner than you. Thank you on behalf of everybody. To all the participants, thank you. I look forward to seeing you many more times and wish you a pleasant weekend. Enjoy the rest of your stay in Abuja. We love you all and have a wonderful evening.

Hajia Sani: I’m doing impromptu. Thank you so very much. Very quickly, let me call the chair of the West Africa Internet Governance Forum, Madam Mary Uduma, to give her vote of thanks.

Mary Uduma: Thank you so very much, Abel and Cole. You’ve done such a great work. We are grateful to you. Excellencies, again, just to give statistics of what happened, we had 700 people online and almost 600 people physical. Some of them are not here, but this is the best we have had in West Africa. West Africa is a large country and you cannot come here without having this number. So we want to thank first our host, that is Nigerian Communications Commission. We can’t thank them enough. Thank you. Thank you, the EVC. Thank you for your team. We can’t thank NIDA enough. Thank you, NIDA and your team. Thank you. Please extend our thanks to the DG. We are grateful. We are grateful. And we want to thank the Honorable Minister, the Minister of Youth that came here because of our able and vibrant senator. He dragged him here and you were able to pull him. Thank you. Thank you, the Honorable Minister of Communication and all the things that are lined up for him. Because there’s innovation, there’s digital economy, there’s communication. Thank you, Honorable Minister. Please extend our thanks. And why did he come? Because our leader, the senator, distinguished senator, was able to bring him here and they came and met. I want to thank all of you that were our players, either your moderator speaker or even your student for the school. I received a certificate today, not because I was there, I was sitting down and doing all your processes, but I was there backing you up. So, thank you for coming. Thank you for those that came and left. And those that came and left, the truth is that we are still here. For you to have been here, thank you. Thank you. We can’t thank you people enough, our honorable MPs from West Africa. And we are going to see you now, Africa level, that is next week in Tanzania. And we are going to see you in Maui in June. So, we are grateful to you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our interpreters, since yesterday, we have seen that nobody is left behind. Everybody is included. So, inclusivity. The chair, thank you. The interpreters, the technical people, the moderators, everybody, please, we are very grateful. Thank you. The food went around. I don’t think anybody complained about food. Thanks to one man, or a man and his team, Engineer Kaka. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Engineer Kaka. We ate, and we are full. Next day, we’ll come again. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, please. This is, next year, we’ll tell you where we are going to. And, I am very happy that I have vibrant people at this secretariat. Please, can you, if you are not here, please. We have Muriel. She’s from Benin. We have Emmanuel. He’s from Togo. We have Mariam. She’s from Gambia. We have Yao. He’s from Benin. We have Kega. He’s from Ghana. And, we have some of them online. We are diverse from different countries, and they put these things together. They helped me, and they helped all of us. And, we are coming together next year, and we are hoping that either Togo, or will it be VED, or will it be Liberia? Madam Liberia, can we come to Benin? Benin has voting next year. We don’t want to go to their politics next year. So, we are hoping that one of them, Senegal has just hosted us, so Nigeria, so we are hoping another country will come, and it will be announced. Thank you, Commissioner. We are grateful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Ghana hosted in 2023 or 2022. So, we are grateful. Senator, I don’t know whether you read 2024, I mean 24th of May or 23rd of May. It should be corrected.

Agreement points

Youth engagement and capacity building in internet governance

Speakers

– Emmanuel Vitus
– Mary Uduma
– Shuaib Afolabi Salisu
– IGF Togo
– Audience

Arguments

Expand innovation hubs and integrate digital literacy in education, Provide mentorship, funding and capacity building for youth initiatives

Organize Internet Governance School for youth participants

Encourage youth to take charge and use internet responsibly

Togo held Internet Governance School and Youth IGF in May

Suggestion for government to sponsor 20 people to WADIF every year

Summary

Multiple speakers emphasized the importance of engaging youth in internet governance through education, capacity building, and active participation in forums.

Regional cooperation and policy harmonization

Speakers

– Emmanuel Vitus
– Shuaib Afolabi Salisu
РS̩diko Douka

Arguments

Enhance cooperation among national regulators, Create regional cybersecurity framework

Harmonize data protection and digital governance laws across region

ECOWAS Commission to support organization of future forums

Summary

Speakers agreed on the need for enhanced regional cooperation and harmonization of digital policies across West Africa.

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the importance of parliamentary involvement in internet governance, including capacity building and development of harmonized digital laws.

Speakers

– Emmanuel Vitus
– Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

Arguments

Strengthen West Africa Parliamentarian Network on Internet Governance, Develop harmonized digital laws across the region, Provide support for parliaments to draft inclusive digital legislation

Parliamentarians to engage in capacity building on digital governance

Unexpected consensus

Child online protection

Speakers

– Ndukwe Kalu Foundation
– Emmanuel Vitus

Arguments

Support initiatives from small organizations to bigger ones, Push awareness across stakeholders from parents, guidance, students

West Africa Internet Governance Forum 2025 Overview

Explanation

While most discussions focused on broader policy issues, there was unexpected consensus on the importance of child online protection, with both the Ndukwe Kalu Foundation and the general forum overview addressing this specific issue.

Overall assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement included youth engagement in internet governance, regional cooperation and policy harmonization, parliamentary involvement, and national-level internet governance initiatives.

Consensus level

There was a high level of consensus among speakers on these key issues, indicating a shared vision for internet governance in West Africa. This consensus suggests potential for coordinated action and policy development across the region.

Different viewpoints

Unexpected differences

Overall assessment

Summary

There were no significant disagreements among the speakers. The main areas of partial agreement were related to regional digital policy coordination and youth engagement in internet governance.

Disagreement level

The level of disagreement was very low. Most speakers presented complementary ideas and approaches, focusing on different aspects of the same goals. This low level of disagreement suggests a generally unified vision for internet governance in West Africa, which could facilitate smoother implementation of proposed initiatives. However, it may also indicate a need for more diverse perspectives in future discussions to ensure all potential challenges and alternative approaches are considered.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the importance of parliamentary involvement in internet governance, including capacity building and development of harmonized digital laws.

Speakers

– Emmanuel Vitus
– Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

Arguments

Strengthen West Africa Parliamentarian Network on Internet Governance, Develop harmonized digital laws across the region, Provide support for parliaments to draft inclusive digital legislation

Parliamentarians to engage in capacity building on digital governance

Key takeaways

The 17th West Africa Internet Governance Forum (WAIGF) 2025 was successfully held with high participation both in-person and online

The forum focused on building a resilient, inclusive and safe digital future for West Africa

Key topics included digital public infrastructure, AI, data governance, cybersecurity, youth engagement, and parliamentary involvement in digital policy

There was strong emphasis on regional cooperation and policy harmonization across West African countries

Youth engagement and capacity building were highlighted as critical for the region’s digital future

Resolutions and action items

Establish an ECOWAS digital policy integration task force

Develop regional standards for ethical AI and responsible data governance

Create a West African digital sustainability pact

Strengthen the West Africa Parliamentarian Network on Internet Governance (WAPNIG)

Develop harmonized digital laws across the region

Create a regional cybersecurity framework

Expand innovation hubs and integrate digital literacy in education systems

Organize capacity building initiatives on digital governance for parliamentarians

Announce the next host country for WAIGF 2026 by end of 2025

Unresolved issues

Specific implementation plans for the proposed regional frameworks and standards

Funding mechanisms for the various initiatives proposed

Exact date and location for WAIGF 2026

Details on how to operationalize the proposed ECOWAS digital policy integration task force

Suggested compromises

None identified

We parliamentarians of 10 West African countries gathered at the West African Internet Governance Forum on May 22 and 23, 2025 in Abuja, Nigeria. We recognize the transformative potential of digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, in shaping a resilient, inclusive, and safe digital future for our region.

Speaker

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

Reason

This comment sets the tone for a regional approach to internet governance and highlights the importance of emerging technologies like AI.

Impact

It framed the subsequent discussion around collaborative efforts and forward-looking policies across West Africa.

We urge all West African countries to adopt inclusive national AI strategies tailored to local contexts. Regional standards for ethical AI and responsible data governance should be developed and adopted.

Speaker

Emmanuel Vitus

Reason

This recommendation emphasizes the need for both national and regional approaches to AI governance, considering local contexts.

Impact

It sparked discussion on how to balance national interests with regional cooperation in technology policy.

We support the development of a West African digital sustainability pact. This pact should encourage the use of renewable energy to promote e-waste management practices and stimulate climate resilient digital innovation.

Speaker

Emmanuel Vitus

Reason

This comment introduces environmental considerations into the digital governance discussion, linking technology policy with sustainability goals.

Impact

It broadened the scope of the conversation to include the environmental impacts of digital transformation.

We encourage member states to recognize young people as key partners in digital developments. These include expanding innovation hubs, integrating digital literacy into education system, and fostering an intergenerational dialogue on governance.

Speaker

Emmanuel Vitus

Reason

This comment highlights the importance of youth engagement in shaping digital policies and future governance.

Impact

It led to increased focus on youth participation and education throughout the rest of the discussion.

I can assure you that the ECOWAS Commission will always play its part when it comes to support countries, intergovernmental organizations, civil society and NGOs in various forms of support and intervention.

Speaker

Sédiko Douka

Reason

This comment from an ECOWAS representative demonstrates regional commitment to supporting internet governance initiatives.

Impact

It provided concrete assurance of support, potentially influencing future planning and collaboration among participants.

Overall assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by emphasizing regional cooperation, forward-looking policies on AI and emerging technologies, environmental sustainability, youth engagement, and concrete support from regional bodies like ECOWAS. They helped to create a comprehensive and collaborative vision for internet governance in West Africa, addressing both current challenges and future opportunities. The discussion moved from general principles to specific action items and commitments, demonstrating a practical approach to implementing the ideas discussed.