E-Government Principal Secretary Olive Chikankheni said government appreciate the need to govern internet because as a global network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business and government networks, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies, and therefore, carrying extensive range of information resources and services, there is need that it be governed.
“As a member of the United Nations, African Union and SADC organisations which have called on their members to have IGFs, Malawi celebrated the Malawi-IGF and committees to ensure that there is maximum multi-stakeholder participation in the forum foe internet related policy dialogue,” she said.
Chikankheni expressed that forum should certainly participate in promoting ICT for both inclusive and sustainable development. The current indicators call for more concerted effort in this area.
According to, Chikankheni, the ICT sector has contributed 3.5 percentages to the country’s GDP in 2010 to 3.8 percent in 2013 and this is expected to reach 3.9 this year.
Chairperson of the The country’s National ICT Working Group (NICTWG), which will coordinate the forum’s functions, Seyani Nayeja, said Malawi will now achieve global recognition with the launch of the forum.
“This will give us an opportunity to give platform to discuss the use and misuse of internet and provide solutions in internet use. We need to make this work. This is a live activism of voluntary participation. We should work towards a common good,” he said.
Before the launch, stakeholders deliberated the launching of the forum and agreed to call the Malawi Internet Governance Forum (Malawi IGF) Charter.
According to the charter, the forum’s aim is to provide a platform for inclusive multi-stakeholder discussions in the issues pertinent to the internet in Malawi n general and internet Governance issues in particular
The country’s National ICT Working Group (NICTWG), according to the charter, will coordinate the activities of the Malawi IGF while the Department of E-Government will be the secretariat and coordination of the forum will be reviewed within a specified period.
The charter further states that the overall objective of the forum is to establish a multi-stakeholder process that will shape the development of Malawi’s internet economy with a number of specific objectives.