African universities have been urged to assume a frontline role in shaping the continent’s digital future.
This is because higher education institutions remain central to building a resilient, innovative and globally competitive Africa, the Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities (AAU), Professor Olusola Bandele Oyewole, has said.
“Our universities are not only consumers of technology, but architects of knowledge, incubators of talents, drivers of policy, and catalysts for digital innovation,” he added.
Prof. Oyewole was speaking as a panel member at the 2025 Africa Engagement Forum in Accra yesterday.
The forum, which was organised by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and hosted by the AAU, focused on regional priorities in global internet governance, ICANN updates, and community perspectives.
Collaboration
The Secretary-General, however, said improving Africa’s digital ecosystem required stronger collaboration among academia, industry, governments and civil society.
He said the association’s ongoing partnerships—particularly with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)— were crucial in expanding meaningful participation and equipping institutions with infrastructure and skills needed for the evolving internet landscape.
Highlighting progress of the Universal Acceptance Readiness Project, a flagship collaboration with ICANN, Prof. Oyewole said that universities were upgrading their digital systems to accommodate all valid domain names and email formats.
This, he said, was key to promoting inclusion, preserving identity and strengthening Africa’s digital sovereignty, especially by ensuring African languages and scripts were properly supported online.
“We envision an Africa where young engineers, researchers and creators influence global standards, where institutions adopt emerging technologies with confidence, and where digital transformation is driven from within our academic communities,” the Secretary-General said.
Support
The Vice-President (VP), Stakeholder Engagement of ICANN Africa, Pierre Dandjinou, said his outfit aimed to deepen African participation in DNS policy development by expanding partnerships, helping contributors in advisory and supporting bodies, and driving action-oriented engagement.
The VP, Stakeholder Engagement of ICANN Middle East and MD in the Istanbul Office, Baher Esmat, outlined ICANN’s internationalisation strategy, regional offices and staffing support for Africa’s digital growth.
He highlighted initiatives under the Coalition for Digital Africa and encouraged stakeholders to raise priorities that should guide ICANN’s work in strengthening the continent’s DNS and internet governance ecosystem.
A board member of ICANN, Catherine Adeya, also stressed the importance of authentic stakeholder feedback to inform board decisions.
She called for collaborations, transparency and renewed community investment to address challenges in DNS development, universal acceptance and regional internet growth.
For his part, the VP, Global Stakeholder Engagement of ICANN, Patrick Jones, said Africa’s 500 million internet users and significant unconnected population were underscoring opportunities for digital expansion.
