Initiative Unveiled to Increase ICANN’s Presence and Participation across
Africa
Plan Receives Enthusiastic Support of CEO and Board Chair.
TORONTO, Canada, October 17, 2012:
Leaders of Africa’s Internet community have unveiled a comprehensive plan designed to dramatically
increase African involvement in ICANN’s multi-stakeholder model.
The initiative was presented to ICANN (http://www.icann.org) 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.”
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.
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.
Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)