APS – February 13th, 2017.

ALGIERS- Africa must participate, with the same voice, in the promulgation of laws on internet governance with a view to laying solid bases for international laws ruling world cyberspace, said on February 13th, in Algiers, Minister of Post and Information and Communication Technologies, Houda-Iman Feraoun.

In her opening address of the African Internet Governance conference, the minister stressed the need "for involving all the peoples of the planet, including those who have not access to internet yet, in the definition of internet governance foundations, through transparent, democratic and participative measures."
"The challenge is also to confine internet use for exclusively peaceful purposes, by making this principle enforceable and compulsory, approved by all the States,” she suggested.
The minister added that this meeting constitutes "an excellent opportunity to discuss and define a common position concerning the new questions related to internet governance."
She recalled that the African governments have made "great work between 2000 and 2016 as the number of internet users increased by over 7000%, from 4.5 million internet users in 2000 to more than 340 million currently."
Africa counts more than 1.2 billion capita, which less than 25% of them have access to internet,- the rate falls below 3% in some African countries. While in Europe and North America this rate exceeds 74% and 90% respectively.
In this regard, the minister regretted that Internet "offers a massive market which is highly profitable for some people, to the detriment of our economies, citing online advertising which generated "nearly $200 billion in 2016."
"Contrary to what we had hoped, the spread of Internet had resulted in collective control, misuse of personal data, especially as a tool of social and political control, the monopoly and the bargaining of knowledge," the minister added.