By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa An initiative aimed at increasing ICANN’s presence and participation across Africa was recently unveiled. It was also announced that the plan has received enthusiastic support of the CEO and Board Chair. News coming from Toronto, Canada say that leaders of Africa’s Internet community have also unveiled a comprehensive plan designed to dramatically increase African involvement in ICANN’s multi-stakeholder model. The initiative was presented to ICANN during the organization’s 45th public meeting in Toronto, Canada by the Africa Strategy Working Group (ASWG). It was formed after ICANN’s new President and Chief Executive Officer, Fadi Chehadé encouraged a stronger voice from the African continent in ICANN’s multi-stakeholder model. “When we met three months ago at the ICANN meeting in Prague, I felt a sense of frustration at our inability to come together and move the Africa agenda forward,” said Chehadé. “It’s incredible what this working group has achieved in such a short period of time by engaging with many concerned groups and individuals through the multi-stakeholder process.” “We employed a bottom-up, open and public process in developing this initiative,” said Nii Quaynor of Ghana, a well-respected Internet leader in Africa and Chair of the ASWG. “We think this plan will lead to dramatically increased African participation in ICANN and greater presence for the organization on the African continent.” Also, the plan was written with the input and broad support of ICANN’s African community, Africa's Regional Registry for Internet Number Resources (AFRINIC) and other influential African organizations involved in the Internet ecosystem. “We are taking a new approach to Africa,” said Tarek Kamel, a Senior Advisor to the ICANN President. “This plan is based on capacity building, business development, specifically developing the Domain Name System (DNS) business in Africa and insuring inclusion.” Furthermore, the three year initiative, entitled ICANN's New Approach to Africa, lays out clear goals and milestones and an action plan for the first 12 months. It is a collaborative effort by AFRINIC, Africa's Regional Registry for Internet Number Resources and the ICANN community. The initiative will now be posted for public comment. Currently, African internet users represent only 6 per cent of Internet users worldwide. This initiative is designed to dramatically increase that number.
