Frame from FIFAfrica's opening session in 2025.
When the 2025 Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica) convened in Windhoek, Namibia, in September, it brought together digital rights advocates, technologists, journalists and policy makers from across the African continent around the importance of safeguarding digital rights. Hosted by Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), APC’s longstanding member in Uganda, FIFAfrica has become a vital space for advancing internet freedom in the region. It allows communities to connect across borders and tackle shared challenges of access, governance and human rights online.
Many APC members from the region see FIFAfrica as an opportunity to nurture alliances that strengthen local struggles for digital justice. Taking this year gathering as an opportunity, we asked our members what gives them hope, what change they wish for, and how we can act together.
At the APC regional member meeting in Windhoek ahead of the Forum, members identified three interlinked priorities: languages, online harms and infrastructure. At the core of these issues is the belief that digital rights are inseparable from social justice, and that solutions must be shaped by those most affected.
The conversations that began in during the regional member meeting continued at FIFAfrica25 in panels on gendered digital violence, discussions of AI ethics and workshops on community-centred connectivity. Through it all, the voices of Africa’s digital rights defenders reminded participants that meaningful connection extends beyond cables and bandwidth and is rooted in hope.
Video: Watch the FIFAfrica25 session entitled "Defending Human Rights Amidst Increasing Gender Disinformation Cases in Africa" with presentation by APC and members PROTEGE QV, WOUGNET and Zaina Foundation. See all sessions here.
From rural networks to feminist infrastructure
Throughout interviews undertaken with APC members from Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Cameroon and beyond, one central theme stood out: hope grounded in action. The source of hope came from seeing communities build their own networks, women claim digital space and governments make the shift towards recognising digital rights as human rights.
For many APC members, optimism lies in the infrastructures that communities are building. In Uganda, Sandra Aceng of Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) spoke about the transformative power of deploying a feminist-led community network. “Much as we’ve done work around access and use of ICT among women and girls, what really gave me hope was being able to deploy a broadband connectivity specifically for the community, being led by the community and supported by women,” she remarked. “Once people get online, there’s so much that communities are able to do.”
Through WOUGNET’s initiative, women in marketplaces, schools and health centres are gaining access to affordable internet for the first time. “When I talk about meaningful connectivity, for a market woman, it might simply be the ability to relax and watch something on TikTok after a long day,” Aceng reflected. “That, too, is meaningful.”
Similarly, Okoro Onyekachi Emmanuel of Media Awareness and Justice Initiative (MAJI) in Nigeria has witnessed what he calls “a pleasant surprise”, referring to the desire for digital inclusion that is increasingly emerging from communities once excluded from connectivity. “We have people calling our offices asking when we’ll bring this kind of innovative infrastructure to their communities,” he noted. “You can see people wanting to key into it. That level of acceptability shows that as we expand community networks, people are seeing the value of owning their digital futures.”
In the Niger Delta, MAJI has already deployed three community networks with APC’s support, including one at a rural university, serving hundreds of students and residents who now rely on local, community-owned connections.
In Kenya, through community networks, Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) connects rural users to vital agricultural and climate information. “APC invested in research into the viability of community networks,” James Nguo remarked. “Now 200 users in remote areas are connected.”
Digital rights as the foundation of equality
For others, hope comes from seeing awareness grow among youth, women and decision makers, grounded in what digital rights mean in practice. Zaituni Njovu from the Zaina Foundation in Tanzania has seen this shift firsthand. “What gave me hope is the increasing awareness from different groups (youth, women, human rights defenders and journalists) about the impact of internet shutdowns,” she reflected. “Communities now understand that shutting down the internet shrinks freedom of expression and blocks innovation.”
Her wish for Africa’s digital future is clear: “I want to see our region have good policies on access to information and a free and open internet all the time, especially during elections.”
It is worth noting that this interview was conducted before this year's general elections in Tanzania on 29 October, which saw a total internet shutdown and reports of violence and loss of lives among protesters in the latest wave of violence taking place across the country.
This desire for openness echoes across the network. In Nigeria, Y.Z. Ya’u of CITAD spoke about bridging gaps between civil society, regulators and security agencies. Through APC-supported dialogues, he found new common ground. “Usually when you’re in the room with the police, it’s adversarial,” he said. “But this time we were speaking the same language, expressing the same concerns. That gives me hope that things can change.”
Ya’u believes that collective advocacy at regional and subregional levels through spaces like FIFAfrica can amplify these shifts. “If we can get institutions such as the African Union or ECOWAS to take a position, it becomes easier to demand implementation in our countries.”
Language, culture and the right to be heard
One of the most resonant themes from APC’s Africa member meeting this year, and a key theme at FIFAfrica25, was language justice. “We are not paying enough attention to how we use languages online,” Aceng observed.
Digital exclusion often begins with linguistic exclusion. When online content, tools and policies are available only in English, French or another dominant language, entire communities are left out. Aceng and others urged that localisation and translation must become central to digital rights advocacy. “We can start with one or two languages but we need to prioritise it, to localise materials and make them accessible. Internet access is a human right, and that includes the right to express ourselves in our own languages,” Aceng noted.
Avis Momeni from PROTEGE QV in Cameroon echoed this call, linking language diversity to democracy and governance. “There’s a problem of language in Africa,” he stated. “We need algorithms for our own languages, our own culture. Why should we always use French or English? We should have our own spaces.”
For Momeni, local languages are tied to participation and accountability. “Digital tools can help young people find work and stay in their communities, and can also be used to better control elections and governance,” he noted.
This attention to language connects with a deeper struggle: ensuring that African knowledge, memory and identity are visible and preserved online. Aceng warned that even as we demand the “right to be forgotten,” activists must safeguard the right to remember, that is, to protect archives, histories and feminist memories from erasure or misuse.
Gender, inclusion and the power to shape narratives
Across the continent, APC members see gender justice as central to digital rights. Josephine Karani of International Association of Women in Radio and Television - Kenya (IAWRT-K) described how being part of our network helped her organisation research and challenge gender disparities in media technology. “We found that women are still disadvantaged in newsrooms,” she said. “Managers tend to think technical work like sound and cameras is a man’s job. But this is about knowledge, not gender. Our research, supported by APC, helped to dispel that belief.”
Josephine’s wish for Africa’s digital future is that women will continue to gain the skills and confidence to be leaders in new technologies, especially as artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes communication. “AI just came before anybody was ready,” she said. “We need to be ahead of it, to understand it and use it for good.”
She also highlighted how networks like APC serve as bridges between generations of activists and journalists. “APC gave us the platform to advance our knowledge and become leaders in digital rights,” she reflected. “We are hopeful that women can now be at equal footing.”
Collective advocacy and the strength of networks
In Kenya, James Nguo of ALIN sees policy reform as another source of progress. “What gives me hope is the data protection regulations coming up across Africa,” he said. “They help protect the kind of work we do.”
Across all conversations, members described APC as an enabler, a network that listens, adapts and empowers.
Nguo believes APC’s Global South focus is what makes it unique. “It connects Africa, Asia and Latin America, a blend you don’t find elsewhere. That exchange of experiences strengthens all of us.”
Others highlighted APC’s role in fostering collaboration across languages, movements and regions. “APC can mobilise all these networks by sharing best practices from different regions and helping us improve our own situations,” Momeni reflected.
Njovu added that APC’s global nature allows it to “support local coalitions and women’s movements through resources, capacity building and connection.”
Emmanuel urged for continued support not only through funding but through skills exchange and infrastructure. “Not everything has to be financed,” he explained. “Sometimes it’s about providing equipment, or bringing people who can share their expertise.”
At FIFAfrica25, these reflections illuminated what is at stake, and what is possible. Across Africa, APC members are building networks that are not just digital, but deeply human, rooted in care, collaboration and shared struggle. As Momeni reflected, “It’s not easy, but if we share knowledge, take the best practices from every part, and experiment in our own spaces, then we will grow. That’s the hope we have again.”
These interviews were carried out by Peace Oliver Amuge and Vassilis Chryssos in September 2025 and the article written by Maja Romano.
Watch recordings of the sessions at FIFAfrica25 here.