African policymakers, civil society leaders, academics, and technology experts used a WSIS Forum 2026 session to argue that the continent already has the strategies needed for digital transformation but now faces a more pressing challenge: implementation. Organised by the Africa ICT Alliance (AFICTA) and Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the discussion focused on how the WSIS+20 outcome document can help translate global digital commitments into practical action across Africa.
Speakers repeatedly stressed that digital transformation requires more than policy declarations. They called for coordinated investment, stronger digital infrastructure, measurable outcomes, and greater collaboration among governments, the private sector, academia, and civil society. Throughout the session, participants returned to a common message that Africa’s digital future will depend not on adopting more strategies, but on delivering tangible results.
From commitments to implementation
Afework Temtime, of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), argued that Africa does not suffer from a lack of digital frameworks, but from the absence of coordinated implementation.
‘Africa needs an implementation roadmap, not another declaration,’ he said while presenting UNECA’s Africa 2035 Digital Implementation Roadmap, which translates the WSIS+20 outcome document into nine thematic pillars tailored to the continent’s priorities.
The roadmap identifies major obstacles to digital transformation, including limited connectivity, financing shortages, digital skills gaps, weak regulatory harmonisation, data governance challenges, and insufficient institutional coordination. It also proposes policy actions to address these issues while aligning national efforts with broader initiatives such as the Global Digital Compact and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Temtime also emphasised that implementation requires accountability. UNECA has proposed a set of 15 priority indicators, along with a unified reporting template, to help African countries measure progress consistently and reduce overlapping reporting obligations.
‘Measurement is the bridge between political commitments and delivery,’ he said, arguing that comparable data will enable governments to identify gaps, learn from one another, and adjust policies more effectively.
Nigeria highlights national reforms
Representing NITDA, Acting Director-General Dr Dimie Shively Wariowei outlined Nigeria’s efforts to implement the WSIS+20 agenda through national reforms and capacity-building initiatives.
He noted that the ICT sector now contributes between 13% and 14% of Nigeria’s GDP and highlighted several recent initiatives, including reforms to the National Identity Management Act, broader digital government reforms, and the 3 Million Technical Talents (3MTT) programme, which aims to train three million people in emerging digital technologies by 2027.
Wariowei also pointed to Nigeria’s leadership role in the Digital Economy Accelerator Programme (DEAP), which seeks to coordinate digital transformation efforts across Africa through regional cooperation.
Despite this progress, he acknowledged that many countries continue to face persistent challenges, including infrastructure deficits, financing gaps, unequal digital access, gender disparities, and limited digital literacy.
Measuring outcomes instead of activity
One of the strongest recurring themes was the need to shift from measuring activities to measuring impact.
Christiana Onoja, co-founder and CEO of SheCode.ai, argued that Africa has no shortage of digital ambition, but lacks three critical ingredients: accessible computing infrastructure, locally developed AI, and reliable measurement of progress.
She highlighted the scale of the continent’s infrastructure gap, noting that Africa hosts only 0.6% of global data centre capacity and roughly 0.2% of global AI computing resources, leaving researchers waiting days to access computing resources that are available within minutes elsewhere.
‘This is not just an infrastructure problem,’ she argued. ‘It is a question of power.’
Onoja also warned that language inclusion remains a major challenge. Although Africa is home to more than 2,000 languages, only a small fraction are meaningfully represented in today’s leading AI models.
‘When AI enters hospitals, schools and public services, this becomes a question of trust, inclusion and safety,’ she said, calling for greater investment in African-language AI models alongside sovereign computing infrastructure.
To strengthen accountability, Onoja proposed creating a WSIS Implementation Maturity Index covering all 11 WSIS Action Lines, allowing governments to measure outcomes rather than simply counting workshops, policies, or declarations.
Digital inclusion must reach underserved communities
Civil society representatives argued that digital transformation will remain incomplete unless it addresses structural inequalities, particularly those faced by women and rural communities.
Martha Alade, President of Women in Technology in Nigeria (WITIN), said her organisation has reached more than 1.25 million beneficiaries through community-based STEM education programmes across Nigeria, including conflict-affected regions.
However, she stressed that digital inclusion requires more than training.
‘No amount of training can compensate for exclusion from foundational digital infrastructure,’ she said, calling for greater access to digital identity systems, affordable internet connectivity, financial services, and coordinated partnerships across sectors.
Alade also argued that education systems should place greater emphasis on problem-solving rather than memorisation and urged governments to collect disaggregated data capable of measuring genuine transformation rather than simply recording participation.
Evangeline Iwenjiora of the Ivyline Care Foundation echoed these concerns, emphasising that women in rural communities remain excluded by poor connectivity and unreliable electricity.
She argued that educating women creates benefits that extend throughout families and communities, making inclusive digital literacy programmes a key investment for long-term development.
Universities need stronger industry links
Professor Abayomi Jegede highlighted progress within Nigeria’s higher education sector, including curriculum reforms that have expanded specialised programmes in AI, cybersecurity, data science, and related disciplines.
Yet he warned that universities continue to face significant barriers.
Many institutions still lack access to advanced computing infrastructure such as GPUs, academic staff often possess strong theoretical knowledge but limited practical experience, and collaboration between universities and industry remains insufficient.
Jegede also identified brain drain as a major challenge, with many of Africa’s most talented graduates and researchers leaving for opportunities abroad.
He called for stronger partnerships between universities and industry, including practical placements that would allow academics to gain hands-on experience before returning to teach students.
Collaboration as the path forward
Despite highlighting numerous challenges, speakers remained optimistic that Africa possesses the foundations needed to accelerate digital transformation.
Rather than calling for new strategies, participants consistently argued that success will depend on stronger implementation, better measurement, sustained investment, and genuine multistakeholder cooperation.
The session concluded with broad agreement that governments, technical experts, businesses, civil society organisations, and academic institutions must align their efforts around common priorities if the ambitions of the WSIS+20 outcome document are to translate into real improvements in connectivity, digital inclusion, AI capacity, and economic development across the continent.
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