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Comparative Analysis: The WSIS+20 Final Outcome Document in Light of AIFAT Propositions
AIFAT Staff Papers · AIFAT (AI for Africa Thinktank) Secretariat · December 23, 2025
Africa has momentum – and a mandate. With WSIS+20 adopted at the UN on December 16–17, 2025, this brief tests the final outcome document against AIFAT’s evidence-based agenda for an inclusive, sovereign, and investable digital future.
What this paper does:
• Benchmarks the final WSIS+20 text against AIFAT’s five pillars:
1. Connectivity & Affordability
2. Digital Sovereignty, Data Governance & Security
3. Human Rights & Digital Freedoms
4. Finance & Investment
5. Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) & Innovation
• Highlights where the document aligns with AIFAT (inclusion, multistakeholder cooperation, GDC links) and where it falls short (specificity, enforceability, financing).
• Brings a Pan-African lens – AfCFTA alignment, BoP-centric value creation, and South-South partnerships (G77/BRICS) – to move beyond aspirational language toward binding, funded mechanisms.
WSIS+20 sets the tone for the next decade. This appraisal separates signal from noise and outlines the practical steps Africa can use now to close affordability gaps, safeguard data, deploy interoperable DPI, and attract sustainable capital.
If you are a negotiator, regulator, telco, DPI builder, civil society, researcher, or partner shaping Africa’s digital economy – this is for you.
Download the full paper here:
