Structuring of regional Internet Governance Forums in Africa : impact on effectiveness

Abstract

This dissertation investigates how regional IGFs in Africa are structured and how this affects their ability to impact, influence or shape national, regional or global policy. The research finds that regional IGFs are structured differently as a direct consequence of how they were formed. The earlier regional IGFs in East and West Africa have similar structures while latter ones have adapted their structures based on learning from these early adopters. The effectiveness of the regional IGFs has been looked at over different time scales in terms of outputs, outcomes and impact and from this several measures have been identified. The research makes three main contributions to the literature and knowledge of multi-stakeholder processes. The first is in the form of enhanced understanding of ICT and Internet governance policy spaces and processes in Africa. Secondly, the research builds on previous work to define determinants of effectiveness of multi-stakeholder processes and introduces a categorization of architectural elements that adds to previously defined operational and procedural structural elements. The third contribution is the development of a framework that connects structural linkages with effectiveness of regional IGFs in Africa.