• The event, which is currently underway in Accra, Ghana, has attracted delegates from 61 countries with an aim to provide a platform where Africa can assess the state of affairs of the global south in the digital era.
• Last year’s DRIF, held in Nairobi, Kenya, was attended by 601 participants drawn from 54 countries worldwide.
Image: MELINDA KIRWA
Paradigm Initiative has started its annual Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF24) in Accra, Ghana.
Paradigm Initiative is a pan-African social enterprise working on digital inclusion and digital rights through its offices in Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The forum seeks to provide a platform where different stakeholders across Africa can indulge in conversations on digital rights and inclusion policy and debate on policy directions in Africa.
The event, currently underway in Accra, has attracted delegates from 61 countries with the aim to provide a platform where Africa can assess the state of affairs of the Global South in the digital era.
Last year’s DRIF was held in Nairobi and was attended by 601 participants from 54 countries worldwide.
The forum hosted sessions focusing on, among other themes, internet shutdowns, utilisation of the Universal Service Fund (USF), data protection, content moderation and censorship.
There were also key launches of research, platforms and networks.
This year, the event has incorporated panel sessions, launches, tech demos, pre-event workshops, lightning talks and exhibitions under diverse tracks, including digital rights, digital inclusion and digital security.
Key among them will be the exclusive premiere of Paradigm Initiative’s fourth short film Undersight, the launch of the organisation’s annual digital rights and inclusion report, Londa, and digital toolkits, Ayeta and Ripoti.
This year’s report will be presenting findings covering 26 African countries.
Sub-themes at the forum include trust and accountability, data protection, privacy and surveillance, AI and emerging technologies, digital inclusion and marginalised groups.
Speaking to African journalists, Paradigm Initiative’s executive director ‘Gbenga Sesan said the main idea of the forum is to establish how Africa can improve the state of digital rights on the continent.
He said Africa rarely takes digital rights seriously and this has to change.
“There are people who have erroneously said that human and digital rights are western concepts. The response to that is simple; human dignity is as African as it comes,” Sesan said.
“At the moment, when we look at state of digital inclusion in the Global South, we have witnessed different governments that have continued to build digital transformation programmes, but the reality is that as far as the African continent is concerned, half of our population is still not digitally connected and lacks access to digital opportunities.”
Kenya continues to curve its name and prove itself as frontier in the digital space through its digital transformation agenda.
The Kenya Kwanza government’s digital superhighway initiative is a plan that seeks to transform Kenya’s digital infrastructure by creating a robust and interconnected digital ecosystem that empowers, individuals, businesses and even communities, which is guided by the Bottom-Up Transformation Agenda (BETA).
Sesan also said in relation to policy in human rights and digital inclusion, the conversation needs to be among Africans.
“We need to take action and inform policies focused on our needs which primarily include human rights inclusion in the age of digital inclusion,” he said.
“We hope that as Africa, we can forge partnerships to work together on various areas of interests and we also hope there will be understanding of what issues are affecting us as a continent.”
DRIF has carved a niche as the arena for tough topical global issues on digital rights and inclusion, accommodating views and opinions from civil society, technology companies, government, academia and other stakeholders.
Paradigm Initiative has successively held 10 DRIF editions since 2013 with this year’s being the 11th edition.