Africa MIGworks report

The Africa MIGworks event was held on 7-8 March in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It was preceded by a two - day workshop on developing the African DNS market. The event and workshop were part of the operationalization of the Africa strategy, which was launched at ICANN 45 in Toronto on July 2012.

A total of two hundred and five (205) participants attended the event, thus exceeding initial expectations. Participants included Government representatives, ccTLDs managers, Africa registrars, African I* such as AfriNIC, AFTLD, AFRALO, African ICT business sector, international partners such as the ITU, ATU, and ISOC. The Africa Union and UNECA were the hosts for the event.

Attendees also included two ministers in charge of Communication and ICT from Burundi and Uganda; four ICANN Board members (Ray Plzak, Sebastien Bachollet , George Sadowsky and Mike Siber); the ICANN staff members including President and CEO Fadi Chehade; Tarel Kamel; Mandy Carver; Nancy Lupiano; Joseph de Jesus and Eric Evrard and myself.

The Africa MIGworks was organized within a framework of four thematic areas which were developed within four plenaries; these are :

1. The development of the DNS industry and business in Africa
2. The multi-stakeholder Internet governance model: African perspectives
3. Implementing the Africa strategy
4. Capacity building in Internet Governance related issues