Access Now at the 12th edition of CIPESA’s FIFAfrica
24 September 2025 @ 9:00 am – 26 September 2025 @ 5:30 pm Namibia/Windhoek
Windhoek International Convention Center, Windhoek, Namibia
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The Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2025 (#FIFAfrica25), hosted by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) in partnership with Namibia’s Ministry of ICT and the Namibia IGF, will take place in Windhoek, Namibia, 24-26 September, 2025.
Since its inception in 2014, FIFAfrica has provided a vital platform for multistakeholder dialogue and collaboration on advancing digital rights across the continent.
Access Now continues to participate at FIFAfrica to strengthen our partnerships in the region and engage on key areas of our work.
Here’s where you can find Access Now at FIFAFrica25:
Tuesday 23 – Thursday 25 September, 2025
Africa Cybersecurity Advocacy workshop | Internet Society (ISOC) Global Encryption Coalition (GEC) 09:00 – 17:00 daily
[Workshop session] Africa’s encryption landscape: how African governments undermine the use of encryption | CIPESA & Access Now| Tuesday 23 September 2025 16:30 – 17:30
About: Access Now will join ISOC, CIPESA and other partner organizations of the Global Encryption Coalition to host a three-day cybersecurity advocacy workshop on the sidelines of FIFAfrica25. The workshop is designed to equip encryption advocates with the knowledge and skills to fight anti-encryption legislation and address other evolving threats to encryption across the continent.
Thursday 25 September, 2025
Book launch: Internet shutdowns in Africa | 25 September 9:30 – 11:00 📍Brandberg
Join us and our partners for the launch of a new book, Internet shutdowns in Africa: Technology, Rights and Power, produced by African authors from 11 countries — including Access Now’s Kassem Mnejja, Senior MENA Campaigner, and Felicia Anthonio, #KeepItOn Global Campaign Manager — showcasing the most comprehensive documentation to date of the incidents of internet shutdowns in the selected countries. In this session, authors will unpack how and why shutdowns are imposed, and their impact on peoples’ social, economic and political rights in Uganda, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Sudan, Nigeria, Chad, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Algeria, and Zimbabwe. This is the first book of its kind dedicated to analysing internet shutdowns in Africa, as well as various forms of resistance that citizens across Africa are using to circumvent, challenge, and end internet shutdowns. It is also the first book to include a comprehensive analysis of the power interests that give rise to internet shutdowns. This session will also engage with participants to share experiences and observations on the subject matter, and connect with the authors. There will be copies of the book available for purchase and download.
Book contributors:
- Kassem Mnejja, Access Now, Senior MENA Campaigner
- Felicia Anthonio, Access Now, #KeepItOn Global Campaign Manager
Friday 26 September, 2025
Panel: Data protection and cybersecurity in Africa: multi-country insights on key issues and opportunities for strengthening human rights protections
| OXFAM and Access Now 08:30 AM – 10:00 AM 📍Kuiseb Hall.
About: OXFAM and Access Now are hosting a panel discussion to explore key issues and opportunities for strengthening human rights protections in cyber policy and data protection implementation across Africa. The panel will feature speakers from Tunisia, Somalia, Kenya, and Nigeria.
Panel: #KeepItOn: Resisting internet shutdowns during conflict and turmoil – lessons from across Africa
| Access Now and AWAFY Sudanese Organization 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM 📍Omatako 4
About: This session explores how governments across Africa deploy internet shutdowns as tools of repression during conflict and political instability. With a focus on the prolonged weaponization of blackouts and internet shutdowns during times of conflict in Sudan and Ethiopia’s Tigray region, as well as insights from Equatorial Guinea and Senegal, the session offers strategies for resistance, advocacy, and legal pushback, centering local voices from these countries.