Research ICT Africa (RIA) has worked for nearly a decade with its partners throughout the continent. Being a pan-African organisation working with diverse networks and partners across the continent is a core component of our strength and resilience in our mission to research ICT access and use and to inform evidence-based digital policy.
Throughout our existence we have been warmly welcomed across the continent by our partners, their governments, businesses, civil society, and African citizens. Last week for example, Kenya welcomed South African students, academics and researchers, policy makers, and businesses to learn about and build capacity to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence for social good.
The country of Chad and the African Union Commission (AUC) are currently hosting RIA staff, and other South Africans attending the African Internet Governance forum, the African Youth IGF, and the African School of Internet Governance. These events are pan-African initiatives, that partner with the AUC to build our capacity to tackle internet governance and cyber policy in Africa and driven by African perspectives.
In addition to the continent welcoming South African researchers, policy makers, and civil society, the continent has also welcomed South African businesses in the continent thus helping to grow wealth to fund ICT rollout in Africa.
Our experience has reaffirmed our conviction that pan Africanism fosters our capacity to harness the beneficial power of ICTs.
In the spirit of Ubuntu, which holds that “a person is a person through people” (Umuntu ngamuntu ngabantu) we reaffirm our solidarity with our African colleagues and fellow Africans for an economically and socially unified continent.
RIA strongly condemns Xenophobia in all of its forms and calls on the South African Government to reject in the strongest terms the violence and criminality against foreign African living and working in South Africa and actively protect people and their property from such violence.