FIFAfrica21: Africa Must be Assertive in International Cybercrime Negotiations

By Apolo Kakaire |

Local nuances, technology neutrality and cross-border cooperation should be at the heart of multi-stakeholder negotiations by African states as part of the United Nations (UN) process on elaborating an international convention on cybercrime. This is according to experts who brainstormed on how African stakeholders can contribute to the planned negotiations, and the role African civil society organisations can play in this process.

Speaking at a session on Africa and the Future of International Cybercrime Cooperation as part of the eighth edition of the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica), Dr. Katherine Getao, the Chief Executive Officer of the Information and Communication Technology Authority of Kenya, stated that African countries have grown some capacity and are better equipped to negotiate in international norm-setting fora. However, she urged states not to “just send lawyers and diplomats” but assemble balanced teams including technical experts that enrich the negotiations. 

According to Dr. Getao, while contexts vary between the different countries on the continent, given the complexity of cybercrime, it is imperative that African countries strategically focus on what works for their countries to ensure clarity on priorities. Moreover,  she called for a local process to coordinate participation in the international process but also to ensure eventual implementation of the agreed conventions. 

George-Maria Tyendezwa, the Africa Group Vice Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes, urged African countries to engage with the negotiations “irrespective of their installed capacity”. Since countries are at different levels of growth in the area of cybercrime, cooperation would enable continued peer learning. 

Globally, Ransomware attacks have surged drastically with damage estimated to hit USD 6 trillion in 2021. Such attacks and other cybercrimes affect all countries, but in Africa, weak network infrastructure security especially within financial institutions, governments, and e-commerce companies makes countries especially vulnerable. In March 2021 Interpol established the African Joint Operation Against Cybercrime (AFJOC), a project to drive intelligence-led, coordinated actions against cybercrime and its perpetrators in African member countries.

Speakers at the FIFAfrica21 session acknowledged that the African cybercrimes landscape presents unique challenges related to detection and investigations, and poor technical capacity among law enforcement officials to retrieve evidence to support criminal prosecution. Given the transnational nature of cybercrime, international cooperation at infrastructure level is key in the recovery of evidence to prosecute perpetrators.

However, the regulatory framework for international cooperation on cybercrime remains weak and fraught with lack of commitment. For instance, while the Budapest Convention is 20 years old, only 66 countries have ratified it across the world. Similarly, the Malabo Convention whose implementation in Africa requires 15 ratifications has only registered eight so far. 

Citing the example of the cost of cybercrime in Africa, which in comparison to other economies and the monetary threshold of cybercrime under international law may seem paltry, Michael Ilishebo, a Digital Forensic Analyst and Cyber Crime Investigator with the Zambia Police Service, emphasised that the legal framework governing cybercrime on the continent should be home- grown and resonate with the region’s crime patterns. To strengthen their bargaining power during negotiations, however, African states need to develop national and regional positions and synchronise these with the UN ad hoc committee. “We should have a consensus on [the] Malabo [Convention] before we start talking about Budapest. We should first ensure that African cyberspace is safe before we rush to the UN,” said Ilishebo. 

For her part, Tatiana Tropina from Leiden University said negotiations should ensure that frameworks are technology neutral so as to deal with emerging unanticipated aspects. By defining illegal conduct irrespective of the medium, technology neutral legislation would give some certainty to criminal justice. “When the instrument at the global level says this is what should be stopped, this should trigger domestication which can vary in as much as it does not violate the agreed principles,” said Tropina.

On the multi-faceted approach to tackling cybercrime, Dr. Getao emphasised that focus should not only be on individual perpetrators but also technology service providers who expose consumers to crimes.  “There are civil and criminal aspects that should be taken into account,” she said. As such, a truly global solution must be developed in a participatory way, balancing law enforcement, foreign policy and human rights interests. 

Among the suggested ways to achieve the balance was consensus on key principles, clarity that emerging concerns resonate with existing principles, and human rights due diligence as part of the processes. “Vulnerable communities take the main brunt of cybercrime and this must be taken into consideration as duties of states to guarantee non-discrimination, fair trial, respect for human rights law, access to information and to legal attorney,” said Klara Jordan, the Chief Public Policy Officer of the Cyber Peace Institute. The Institute has recently launched a Multi-stakeholder Manifesto as a guide ahead of treaty negotiations at the UN. 

Ultimately, cybercrime should be considered beyond law enforcement and include the perspectives of civil society who also have a role to play in the implementation of conventions and yet also happen to be victims. “Civil society and individuals being part of the solution is very key and governments must open up,” said Jordan.

Countdown to The Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2021 (#FIFAfrica21) – Here Is What You Can Expect!

FIFAfrica21 |

The five-day countdown to the eighth edition of the annual Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2021 (FIFAfrica21) is on! 

While revolving around three primary themes of Access to Information, Digital Inclusion, and Key Trends shaping digital rights in Africa, the Forum will serve as a platform to dissect and deliberate on topics shaping the digital rights agenda in the continent and other parts of the world.

Setting the stage for FIFAfrica, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) will host a keynote panel featuring journalist and writer Samira Sawlani, Cameroonian lawyer and activist Michelle Ndoki, the Chief Executive Officer of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), Donald Deya, and Ambassador Tadej Rupel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, Presidency of the Council of European Union 2021. The diversity of backgrounds and expertise of the panel is reflective of the nature of deliberations, participants and content that will form the backbone of the Forum.

Overview of FIFAfrica21

  • 2 Pre-event trainings
  • 6 Remote hubs across five countries – Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe
  • 25 virtual sessions (lightning talks, report launches, strategy sessions, panels and learning calls)
  • 115 speakers

See the current agenda and speaker lineup.

Supported by the Ford Foundation, Sigrid Rausing Trust, Omidyar Network, Small Media, Internews, the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EU ISS), and the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, FIFAfrica21 will serve as a platform for deliberation on gaps, concerns and opportunities for advancing privacy, free expression, non-discrimination and the free flow of information online. 

The virtual sessions, remote hubs and pre-event trainings have been organised in partnership withData4Change, the International Centre for Non-for-Profit Law (ICNL), Paradigm Initiative, Zaina Foundation, Africa Kiburi, Jonction Senegal, International Training Programme (ITP), Zimbabwe Centre for Media and Information Literacy (ZCMIL), Centre for Media Literacy and Community Development (CEMCOD), and Rudi International.

Registration for FIFAfrica21 remains open and includes access to the online event space wherein participants are already engaging with each other. Registered attendees can also lookout for the following at the Forum:

    • Build networks of practice: The Forum provides an opportunity for like-minded individuals to get to know and engage with each other. Be sure to look out and diarise sessions that resonate with you.
    • Access to the Digital Security and Virtual Support Desk: We have a wonderful team of digital security experts who will be on hand to provide personalised support and advice to attendees on any digital security issues and concerns.  
    • Visit Exhibitors: There is a plethora of very interesting work being done by the digital rights community across the world. You can visit the exhibitors’ centre to see some of this work and directly engage with the entities and people behind the various initiatives
    • Launch of the State of Internet Freedom in Africa 2021 report: This year we look forward to launching the latest edition of the State of Internet Freedom in Africa report. This adds to our repository of tracking the trends shaping digital over the years since 2014.

FIFAfrica21 to Feature Remote Hubs in Five African Countries

FIFAfrica21 |

Set to kick off next week on September 27, 2021 and taking on a hybrid approach blending virtual and physical engagements, the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2021 (FIFAfrica21) will feature six remote hubs in five countries – the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The hubs are an opportunity to convene small in-person country engagements of no more than 30 people as permitted and guided by Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in the respective countries.

On September 30, 2021, in Entebbe, Uganda, the International Training Programme on Media Development in a Democratic Framework (ITP) has organised a Media and Information Literacy (MIL) dialogue in partnership with the Zimbabwe Centre for Media and Information Literacy and the Uganda-based Centre for Media Literacy and Community Development. Select participants in Uganda will be joined virtually by counterparts in Kenya, Namibia, Sweden, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe to explore the importance of media and information literacy in empowering citizens to navigate misinformation and disinformation; the nexus between media and information literacy and digital rights, civic engagement, and trust in the media; and the use of media and information literacy as a strategic approach for citizens to achieve the Web We Want.

Dr. Emilly Comfort Maractho, the Director of the Africa Policy Centre at Uganda Christian University, will deliver a keynote address, framing MIL and the opportunities as well as challenges it presents as a vehicle for empowering citizens to become discerning information consumers online. The Entebbe hub will also feature two panel panel discussions, which will explore how MIL is essential for citizens to claim their rights online and for digital inclusion. The second panel discussion will cover the restoration of public trust in the media and building civic competence through news literacy amidst media institutions’ viability concerns brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Still in Uganda, as part of Internews ADOPTABLE Project, a digital security tool usability session in Iganga district titled The Invisible Internet will explore use case scenarios and risks. The session will also explore how developers of open source digital security tools and the users of these tools can develop sustainable relationships.

Meanwhile, in Dakar, Senegal, Jonction will host an engagement on regulation of ICT and the right of access to information, where speakers will include representatives from Facebook, University Cheikh Anta Diop University, MonUniversDigital_Sénégal and the legal fraternity. The Dakar hub builds on a similar event in 2020 which engaged stakeholders on misinformation and its impact on freedom of expression online during the Covid-19 pandemic.

On September 29, 2021, Africa Kiburi will lead a national roundtable engagement in Harare, Zimbabwe with the objective to raise awareness about minority and marginalised groups’ digital rights issues and to generate policy recommendations to feed into the Cybersecurity and Data Protection Bill which is currently before parliament. The Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe, Gender Media Connect, Digital Society of Africa, Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe Chapter, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission and the Zimbabwe Ministry of ICT Postal and Courier Services are among the hub’s expected participants.

Meanwhile, the Goma-based Rudi International will conduct a capacity building workshop for Members of the National Assembly of the DR Congo on the prevailing ICT policy landscape, how to champion formulation of progressive laws on privacy and data protection, and the need to ally with digital rights organisations. Taking place from September 30, 2021 to October 1, 2021 in the capital Kinshasa, the training will bring together legislators on the Telecommunications and Technology Committee, industry players and government officials working in the sector ministries and agencies. The engagements will also build the participants’ digital security knowledge and  skills.

Finally, in Dar es Salaam, the NetRights Forum will be held as a two-day multi-stakeholder dialogue on internet rights and governance issues in Tanzania. It will seek to secure the government’s commitments not to entrench digital repression but to promote progressive legislative and practical reforms instead. Hosted by Zaina Foundation, this year marks the second year of a FIFAfrica hub in Tanzania. Last year, Zaina Foundation convened a remote hub to deliberate on digital rights in Tanzania with reference to the shrinking environment for advocacy work in the run up to the October 2020 general elections.

See the FIFAfrica21  agenda and speaker lineup.

Registration remains open.

Apply for Data Driven Advocacy Sketchathon at FIFAfrica21

Call for Applications |

Do you want to use data for advocacy but you’re not sure where to start? Would you like to transform statistics into compelling stories? Are you passionate about a digital rights cause, and want to convince others to join your efforts?

In the lead up to the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2021 (FIFAfrica21), the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and Data4Change will host a virtual data sketchathon and series of critical discussions to get you thinking more about how to use data in digital rights advocacy. The sketchathon will take place on Monday 27 September 2021.

The schedule
Starting at 10am East African Time (EAT) and finishing at 5pm EAT, the sketchathon will entail a combination of live Zoom sessions and self-paced activities.

We’ll use the answers in your application forms to set an agenda for the group discussions as we explore themes like: data biases; representation, accessibility and ownership of data; and data inequalities. You’ll also have an opportunity to work in small groups to map your data advocacy aspirations and to tackle some of the data questions you’re grappling with as individuals or organisations.

Participants will also have an opportunity to create a data design using data from the #KeepItOn campaign Shutdown Tracker Optimisation Project.

Who should apply
There are no prerequisites, and literally anybody can apply. We are looking for people who are passionate about uncovering the potential of using numbers to drive forward emotive stories that have the power to advance digital rights preferably in Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

A limited number of spaces are available for the workshop. We endeavour to create diverse and collaborative spaces and to foster a sense of community that lasts beyond the event and will strive to create a balanced representation of different geographies, abilities, and approaches among participants.

How to apply
Submit this form before 18.00 East African Time on Wednesday September 22, 2021.

Successful applicants will be notified by Friday September 24, 2021. A modest reimbursement will be provided for participants’ connectivity costs.