The Africa Tech Policy Summit 2025

Date: 12 – 16 May 2025 

Time: 0800–1800 hours Daily

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Introduction 

KICTANet will host the inaugural Africa Tech Policy Summit (AfTPS), bringing together policymakers, private sector leaders, academia, civil society, and tech startups. The summit aims to promote the harmonization of tech policies across Africa to foster technological development across the continent. It will focus on aligning regional, continental, and national efforts to create policies and incentives for emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, to drive societal transformation in Africa. 

Building on the strong legacy of the Kenya IGF Week, which traditionally features KICTANet and Partners’ workshops on various thematic issues, AfTPS will be a week-long event welcoming stakeholders from across Africa. The program will feature workshops, exhibition booths showcasing policy innovations, and regulatory sandboxes led by diverse actors. 

As part of this regional showcase, the inaugural AfTPS will host key events, including the Kenya Internet Governance Forum on May 14, 2025, and the East Africa Internet Governance Forum from May 15 to 16, 2026. Details on these sub-events are outlined below. 

  1. Sub Events in the Africa Tech Policy Summit 

2.1. The Kenya Internet Governance Forum 

The Kenya Internet Governance Forum (KeIGF) is a national Internet governance initiative that stems from the global Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Both are open and inclusive multi-stakeholder platforms, in their respective scopes, for discussing public policy issues related to internet governance, including its security, stability, and development. 

Established by the UN Secretary-General in 2006, the IGF fosters open dialogue, shares best practices, identifies emerging issues, and supports capacity building in internet governance. The event brings together representatives from government, private sector, civil society, academia, media, and the technical community to engage in policy discussions on an equal footing. This collaborative “multistakeholder” model is key to the internet’s continued growth and success. 

IGF outcomes progress from local to global levels, with national forums like Kenya IGF feeding into regional (East Africa IGF), continental (Africa IGF), and global IGF discussions. Kenya previously hosted the East Africa IGF in 2009 and the global IGF in 2011 in Nairobi. 

Every year, the KIGF brings together around 300 industry stakeholders representing the government. KICTANet has convened the Kenya IGF every successive year since 2008 in partnership with industry stakeholders, and this year commemorates the 18th Edition. The outcomes of the Kenya IGF will feed into the African IGF and Global IGF later this year. See the Kenya IGF 2024 Report. Alongside the national IGF, a youth IGF as well as a Children’ IGF shall be convened during the week. 

The Kenya IGF theme is ‘Tech for human development: Policy, Innovation and Inclusive Governance’. This theme is aligned with the spirit of the Kenyan constitution which puts inclusive governance, equality, representation and public participation at the centre of Kenyan values. It also aligns with Africa’s efforts on digital transformation through inter African digital trade and an African cohesion to foster tech and human development. The following are the sub themes: 

  1. Championing Home-grown Tech Solutions for Societal Impact: Fostering innovation ecosystems that empower local tech talent to develop solutions addressing Kenya’s unique societal challenges. 
  2. Creating a Thriving Ecosystem for AI and Emerging Technologies: Building policies and infrastructure to enable responsible AI and emerging technologies to flourish, driving innovation and economic growth. 
  3. Bridging Digital Access Gaps: Ensuring No One Is Left Behind: Promoting inclusive digital access by addressing connectivity, affordability, and digital literacy to empower all segments of society. 
  4. Harmonizing Tech Policies for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth: Aligning regulatory frameworks to encourage innovation, protect digital rights, and support equitable growth in Kenya’s tech landscape. 

Register to attend online the Kenya IGF 2025.

2.2 East African IGF 

The East Africa IGF shall focus on reflections on the development of Internet Governance and the consequential policy implications of the Internet Governance engagements across East Africa. Focus shall be inter- country exchanges from the full multistakeholder Spectrum with focus on sharing the next best practice that shall ensure the maintenance of East Africa’s strategic positioning in the digital economy. 

2.3 Thematic workshops 

These workshops will provide a deep dive into specific policy issues and challenges. Designed as hands-on sessions led by experts, focusing on critical areas of technology governance and policy, we welcome civil society organisations, the private sector and government agencies to propose, sponsor and lead the different thematic workshops. With this, we aim to build capacity among participants and provide practical insights into emerging issues. Key topics include: 

  • AI Governance: Exploring responsible and ethical frameworks for Artificial Intelligence to ensure its positive societal impact. 
  • Data Policy: Addressing data protection, privacy, and governance to create a secure and inclusive digital environment. 
  • Digital Inclusion: Promoting strategies to bridge digital access gaps, ensuring equitable access to technology for all segments of society. 
  • Keeping the Internet On: Africa Like many parts of the world today faces heightened interference on connectivity either from a commercial/economic perspective or political/social interference. Focus on strategies to Keeping the Internet on. 
  • Industry specific tech policy forums , healthcare, education, finance, fintech, agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and conservation, sports, arts, civil society, infrastructure/telecommunications. 
  • Internet Governance in Africa and it’s impact on Tech policy development, CADE engagements. 

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2.4 Exhibitions 

The exhibitions provide a platform for stakeholders to share their work by showcasing tech policy solutions, research outputs, and regulatory innovations. These exhibits will feature contributions from tech start-ups, Civil Society Organisations, Small and Medium Sized enterprises, large enterprise, Academic institutions, think tanks and Governments. 

  1. Outcomes 

The overall aim of the Summit is to generate actionable recommendations for harmonizing tech policies across Africa, foster partnerships among stakeholders, and identify pathways for supporting innovation and inclusive digital transformation. Here are some of the specific objectives: 

  • Discussions from the Summit will form African stakeholders positions in the global tech governance forums such as the World Summit of Information Society (WSIS), the Global Digital Compact (GDC), the implementation of the Africa AI Strategy and the Africa Digital Trade protocol. 
  • Key outputs from the KIGF will contribute to discussions at the regional (East Africa IGF) and continental (Africa IGF) levels, and eventually feed into global IGF deliberations in June 2025.
  • Exchange cross-sectoral best practices on tech policies and explore opportunities for innovative policies that foster a conducive environment for innovations on emerging technologies. 
  • Build capacity on tech policy across all stakeholders. 

  1. Participants 

The participants will consist of around 300 individuals representing various sectors including government, the private sector, civil society, the technical and academic community, and the public. Further, the Kenya IGF will feature an award ceremony for the Kenya School of Internet Governance (KeSIG) participants. 

  1. Methodology 

The summit will use a diverse approach to foster collaboration, knowledge sharing through the following methods: 

  • Keynote Speeches: Delivered by thought leaders, policymakers, and industry experts to provide strategic insights on emerging trends and challenges in tech governance. ● High-Level Panel Discussions: Interactive sessions featuring expert panellists from various sectors to discuss key sub-themes and generate actionable insights.
  • Breakout Sessions: Smaller, focused discussions designed to explore specific policy issues and craft practical recommendations for implementation.
  • Workshops: Hands-on sessions led by experts to build capacity among participants, focusing on AI governance, data policy, and digital inclusion.
  • Exhibition Booths: Showcasing innovative tech policy solutions, research outputs, and regulatory innovations by tech startups, academic institutions, and civil society organizations.
  • Regulatory Sandboxes: Collaborative spaces where policymakers and innovators can experiment with new technologies under relaxed regulatory conditions to better understand policy implications.
  • Networking Events: Opportunities for participants to build connections, share experiences, and foster collaborations across sectors.
  • Youth Engagement Sessions: Interactive forums to empower young leaders and innovators, including the Youth IGF, where they can contribute to shaping the digital policy landscape. ● Plenary Wrap-Up Sessions: Summarizing key discussions and recommendations, setting the agenda for regional and continental digital policy dialogues.

  1. Sponsorship

The AfTPS activities are facilitated through sponsorship of different aspects of the event by key partners drawn from across the multistakeholder groups. Any form of support is welcome to make the community events successful, whether in cash or kind. A detailed sponsorship package is also available for consideration.

About KICTANet 

KICTANet is a multistakeholder ICT policy think tank that aims to catalyse reforms in the ICT sector. Registered as a Trust in 2016, KICTANet’s overall mission is to promote an enabling environment in the ICT sector that is robust, open, accessible, and rights-based through multistakeholderism. Its strategic objectives during the 2024-2028 period are effective multistakeholder participation; promoting an enabling environment; building capacities and empowered communities; and institutional strengthening. These are implemented under four pillars: policy advocacy, stakeholder engagement, capacity building, and research. 

 

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