SUSTAINABLE CAPACITY BUILDING: INTERNET GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA An Action Plan Prepared by Marilia Maciel Digital Policy Senior Researcher, DiploFoundation November, 2020 Acknowledgements The project team would like to express their gratitude to the following experts who kindly agreed to share their views during interviews: Alison Gillwald, Anne-Rachel Inné, Anriette Esterhuysen, Hanane Boujemi, Kossi Amessinou, Makane Faye, Raymond Mamattah, Verengai Mabika. List of abbreviations and acronyms AAU - Association of African Universities ACBF - African Capacity Building Foundation ACE - African Center of Excellence ACEIoT - African Center of Excellence in Internet of Things ADC - Africa Development Centre Af* - AfStars AfNOG - The African Network Operators Group AfREN - Africa Research and Education Networking AFRINIC - African Network Information Centre AfTLD - Africa Top Level Domains Organization AI - Artificial Intelligence AIS - African Internet Summit APC - Association for Progressive Communications AU - African Union C3SA - Regional Cybersecurity Capacity Centre for Southern Africa CB - capacity building CEN-SAD - Community of Sahel–Saharan States COMESA - Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa DNS - Domain name system EAC - East African Community EC - European Commission 2 ECCAS - Economic Community of Central African States ECOWAS - Economic Community of West African States EGIGFA - E-Governance and Internet Governance Foundation for Africa GIGANET - Global Internet Governance Academic Network ICANN - Internet corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ICT - Information and Communications Technology IG - Internet governance IGAD - Intergovernmental Authority on Development IGF - Internet Governance Forum IoT - Internet of Things ISOC - Internet Society IT - Information Technology NASIG - North Africa School on Internet Governance NEPAD - New Partnership for Africa’s Development PRIDA - Policy and Regulation Initiative for Digital Africa RECs - Regional Economic Communities RIA - Research ICT Africa SADC - Southern African Development Community SDGs - Sustainable Development Goals SIG - School on Internet Governance WASIG - West Africa School on Internet Governance WGIS - UN Working Group on Internet Governance 3 List of figures and tables Figure 1. Capacity development butterfly Figure 2. The three pillars of sustainability Figure 3. Break-out of PRIDA online survey respondents by nationality Figure 4. Weight of representation of AU RECs among PRIDA online survey respondents Figure 5. Framework of the SWOT analysis Table 1. Analysis of IG capacity building offered by a sample of organizations from the technical community Table 2: Breakdown of topics covered by the technical community in their capacity building Table 3. Analysis of IG capacity building offered by a sample of civil society organizations Table 4: Breakdown of topics covered by civil society organisations in their capacity building Table 5. Analysis of IG capacity building offered by a sample of universities Table 6: Breakdown of topics covered by universities in their capacity building Table 7. SWOT analysis of conceptual frameworks Table 8. SWOT analysis of geographic and stakeholder coverage Table 9. SWOT analysis of mechanisms for communication and collaboration Table 10. SWOT analysis of mechanisms for inclusion in global IG discussions Table 11. SWOT analysis of substantive issues Table 12. SWOT analysis of language, certification and evaluation Table 13. Action Plan for the sustainability of capacity building in Internet Governance Table 14. Expected implementation timeline 4 Index 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical framework and methodology 2.1. From training to capacity development 2.2. Sustainability as a cornerstone of capacity development 2.3. Challenges in defining Internet governance capacity development 2.4. Methodological approach 3. An overview of capacity building initiatives in the continental, regional, and national levels 3.1. Capacity building provided by the technical community 3.2. Capacity building provided by civil society 3.3. Capacity building provided by universities in Africa 3.4. Schools on Internet governance (SIGs) in Africa 3.5. Capacity building initiatives with private sector involvement 3.6. Capacity building initiatives: summary of the analysis 4. SWOT analysis of Internet governance capacity building in Africa 5. Action Plan for the sustainability of capacity building initiatives on Internet governance 6. Expected time of implementation of steps in the Action Plan 5 Introduction The Policy and Regulation Initiative for Digital Africa (PRIDA) is the fruit of a partnership between the African Union Commission and the European Commission. The overall objective of PRIDA is to foster universally accessible, af- fordable, and effective wireless broadband across the continent to unlock possible future benefits of Internet-based services. Its specific objectives are: a) to facilitate efficient and harmonised spectrum utilisation, b) to harmonise measurable ICT/Telecommunications policy as well as legal and regulatory frameworks, and c) to strengthen the ability of African stakeholders to actively participate in global Internet governance (IG) processes. Activities pertain- ing to the latter are collectively referred to as the Internet governance track of PRIDA. This study is part of PRIDA’s IG track. Its key objective is to develop an Action Plan for the sustainability of capac- ity building initiatives in IG in Africa, suggesting concrete steps that should be taken in the continental, regional and national levels, as well as the role of the African Union Commission and PRIDA in supporting the implementation of measures to foster sustainability. Enhancing sustainable capacity building on IG would have positive consequences within and beyond the African con- text. Considering the importance of the issues that fall under the framework of IG – ranging from providing access to infrastructure to promoting cybersecurity and fostering emerging technologies – it is possible to conclude that strengthening IG capacity building could ultimately contribute to developing the capacities required for implementing the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa (2020-2030) (African Union, 2020a) and the Agenda 2063 (AU Commis- sion, 2015), Africa’s strategic framework for achieving the continent’s development and technological transforma- tion. IG capacity building could facilitate the process of harnessing digital technologies and innovation to generate inclu- sive economic growth, stimulate job creation, and promote socio-economic development. At the same time, capacity building could positively contribute to the engagement of African stakeholders in global digital policy discussions, effectively promoting African interests in the international arena. This report takes into consideration the contribution that IG capacity building can make in assisting African stake- holders to achieve the digital policy objectives they have set for themselves, as well as strengthening their capacity to influence the course of international discussions on digital issues. The report is structured in six sections. Section 1 corresponds to this introduction. Section 2 provides an overview of the theoretical framework and methodological aspects of the study. It is divided into four sub-sections: 2.1 the key differences between capacity building and capacity development, 2.2 an overview of the concept of sustainability and its key pillars, 2.3 challenges in defining Internet governance capacity building, and 2.4 methodological approach. An overview of a sample of capacity building initiatives available on the continental, at regional, and national levels in Africa is presented in Section 3. This analysis encompasses aspects such as the identification of key stakeholders for the promotion of capacity building, methodological approaches, topics which are well-covered by existing initia- tives as well as substantive gaps, and the identification of predominant types of capacity building in Africa. The summary of the findings in Section 3 (presented under sub-section 3.6) will provide the basis for the develop- ment of an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) in Section 4. The evaluation of con- crete initiatives enables the identification of strengths and weaknesses (endogenous aspects) that will be matched against the current scenario of opportunities and threats encountered in the IG policy space (exogenous aspects). This correlation will facilitate the identification of low hanging fruits as well as potential obstacles, which provide useful guidelines for the development of the Action Plan. Section 5 proposes a concrete Action Plan and Roadmap for enhancing the sustainability of capacity development initiatives in Africa, on the continental, regional and national levels. Section 6 presents an indication of the estimated time of implementation of steps in the Action Plan, in the form of short and mid-term goals. 6 2. Theoretical framework and methodology 2.1. From training to capacity development The development of capacities is a key element to engender human development. It provides an arsenal of skills and knowledge that are key to devising strategies to tackle common problems, such as economic, climate, and food crises. Capacity development also enables progress towards achieving the development objectives set forth by the sustainable development goals (SDGs). In Africa, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)