Introduction
In 2025, the global community marks the twentieth anniversary of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), a significant initiative aimed at bridging the digital divide and leveraging Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for sustainable development. For Africa, this milestone presents a unique opportunity to take stock of the progress made, confront persistent challenges, and envision the future of its digital landscape. This review process, culminating in a high-level event in Geneva in July 2025, is being supported by regional workshops, including the upcoming forum in Cotonou, Benin, from 14 to 16 May 2025. This hybrid workshop, co-organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Government and National Assembly of Benin, and other key stakeholders, will serve as a vital platform for African stakeholders to collectively assess the implementation of WSIS outcomes and formulate a unified African perspective on the way forward, particularly in the context of the recently adopted Global Digital Compact. Building upon the momentum of the Africa WSIS Annual Review Workshop held in Dar es Salaam in October 2024, this forum will delve deeper into the continent's achievements, gaps, and future prospects in the digital era.
Objectives
The primary objectives of this 2025 review forum are to:
- Evaluate Progress: Conduct an in-depth assessment of the achievements and shortfalls in the implementation of the Geneva Plan of Action's action lines across Africa over the past two decades. This includes identifying successful initiatives, best practices, and valuable lessons learned that can be scaled across the continent.
- Identify Challenges and Opportunities: Foster discussions on the specific obstacles hindering digital transformation in Africa while exploring emerging trends and opportunities presented by cutting-edge ICTs such as artificial intelligence, big data, and the Internet of Things.
- Shape a Common African Position: Develop a policy declaration on the 20-year review of WSIS, strategically aligning it with the Global Digital Compact. This aims to articulate a unified African stance on the future direction of the WSIS outcome implementation process.
- Strengthen Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration: Enhance dialogue and partnerships among diverse stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, regional and international organizations, and youth and women's groups, to ensure effective implementation of WSIS outcomes and shape Africa's digital future.
- Contribute to the Global Review Process: Provide valuable insights and perspectives from the African region to inform the broader global review of WSIS implementation.
Significance
This 2025 review forum holds significant importance for several reasons:
- Critical Juncture: It marks a crucial twenty-year milestone since the inception of WSIS, providing a timely opportunity to reflect on the impact of the Summit's vision and action lines in the African context.
- Continental Perspective: It offers a dedicated platform for African stakeholders to collectively analyze their unique experiences, challenges, and successes in building people-centered, inclusive, and development-oriented information societies.
- Alignment with Global Agendas: It facilitates the alignment of the WSIS review process with the Global Digital Compact and other outcomes of the Summit of the Future, ensuring coherence and avoiding duplication of efforts in the global digital governance landscape.
- Shaping the Future: The outcomes of this forum will contribute significantly to shaping Africa's digital policies and strategies for the coming years, ensuring that the continent can fully harness the transformative power of ICT for sustainable development.
- Unified Voice: By fostering a common African position, this forum will amplify the continent's voice in the global discussions surrounding the future of digital cooperation and governance.
About WSIS
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is a global multi-stakeholder platform established to address the issues raised by the information society. Since its first phase in Geneva in 2003 and the second phase in Tunis in 2005, WSIS has aimed to build a people-centred, inclusive, and development-oriented information society. It established a vision underpinned by the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and it outlined 11 Action Lines in its Plan of Action to achieve this vision. These Action Lines cover a broad range of topics crucial for building an inclusive digital world, including:
- C1: The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development
- C2: Information and communication infrastructure
- C3: Access to information and knowledge
- C4: Capacity building
- C5: Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs
- C6: Enabling environment
- C7: ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life – e-government, e-business, e-learning, e-health, e-employment, e-environment, e-agriculture and e-science
- C8: Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content
- C9: Media
- C10: Ethical dimensions of the Information Society
- C11: International and regional cooperation
Over the past two decades, the information society has undergone significant transformations, marked by rapid technological advancements and increasing interconnectedness. The ongoing WSIS review process acknowledges these changes and seeks to ensure that the foundational principles and action lines remain relevant and adaptable to the evolving digital landscape, particularly in the context of new global frameworks like the Global Digital Compact. This 2025 review in Africa is a critical part of this global reflection, focusing on the specific experiences and priorities of the African continent in this dynamic digital era.