African Governments Urged to Promote Policies on Digital Rights 

Emma Okonji

Governments across Africa have been urged to expand digital rights and inclusion on the continent by formulating favourable laws and policies.

Paradigm Initiative (PIN), a leading Pan-African Digital Rights and Inclusion organisation, also said citizens on the continent were currently using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) on a regular basis to create a need for rights respecting and inclusive practices. 

Representatives from the social enterprise as well as the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) made the appeal at the sidelines of the just concluded PIN festival in Harare, Zimbabwe. The festival celebrated the collective behind-the-scenes efforts toward advancing digital rights and inclusion in Africa over the years. 

Executive Director at PIN, Mr. Gbenga Sesan, said as much as many governments in Africa have made considerable progress towards improving privacy online, data protection and providing affordable internet to increase access, much more needed to be done to bridge the existing digital divide. 
 “Paradigm Initiative has been in existence for 15 years now and over the years, we have seen gradual progress towards digital transformation, a clear indication of opportunities that exist towards safeguarding digital rights for all,” Sesan added.
On her part, Executive Director of Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Ms. Anriette Esterhuysen, emphasised the need for developing policies geared towards empowering individuals and strengthening their livelihood capacities through ICTs.  

“Having worked together with Paradigm Initiative over the years, I can attest to the benefits that accrue when individuals and organizations are empowered. Access to ICTs leaves individuals, communities and institutions in a better position to act, and try to solve their own problems,” she added.

In her address at the event, PIN’s Partnerships and Engagements Manager, Ms. Thobekile Matimbe, stressed the need for the establishment of sound policies, noting that the Zimbabwe government had enacted data protection laws, which she said, was a step in the right direction. She urged the Zimbabwe government to ensure internet access during the upcoming general election.

PIN’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Ms. Nnenna Paul-Ugochukwu, said the organisation played an important role in spearheading development of public policy for internet freedom in Africa and would continue to do so through its presence in Nigeria, Cameroon, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Senegal and Kenya.

Since its inception in 2007, Paradigm Initiative has impacted the lives of more than 5,000 under-served African youth with improved livelihoods through digital opportunities and the protection of their online rights.  For more than eight years, the organisation has played an instrumental role in advancing internet freedom, proposing policy solutions and monitoring legal and policy frameworks around Information and Communication Technology on the continent to ensure citizen rights. This contribution has been strengthened by the organisation’s competencies in ICT capacity building, research and reports.