The Secretariat of the West Africa Internet Governance Forum has published the list of pre selected candidates for the 9th edition of the West Africa School on Internet Governance to be held in 2026. The announcement follows a competitive evaluation process conducted by the WASIG Selection Committee and marks the beginning of the next phase of the programme.
The list of pre selected candidates is now available on the official WAIGF website, where applicants can consult the results and obtain information regarding the next steps of the process.
The 2026 edition of the West Africa School on Internet Governance attracted a particularly strong response across the region. The programme received a large number of applications of outstanding quality. Following the evaluation process, 177 candidates have been pre selected by the committee.
The linguistic distribution of the cohort reflects the regional balance of the programme. Among the 177 pre selected candidates, 99 will follow the English track representing 55.9% of participants, while 78 candidates will follow the French track representing 44.1% of the cohort.
The gender distribution shows a near parity among participants. A total of 90 men representing 50.8% and 87 women representing 49.2% have been pre selected. This balance reflects the programme’s continued commitment to inclusive participation and the promotion of gender equality in regional Internet governance capacity development initiatives.
The professional background of the candidates highlights the multistakeholder nature of the programme. Government representatives form the largest group with 50 participants representing 28.2% of the cohort. Academia accounts for 35 participants representing 19.8%, followed by the private sector with 32 participants representing 18.1%. The technical community includes 27 participants representing 15.3%, while civil society organisations account for 23 participants representing 13.0%. The media sector is represented by 10 participants representing 5.6% of the cohort.
Geographically, the cohort reflects broad participation across West Africa. Sierra Leone represents the largest national group with 37 candidates representing 20.9% of the cohort. Nigeria follows with 25 candidates representing 14.1%. Ghana accounts for 13 participants while Togo has 11 candidates. Several francophone countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal each have 10 candidates. Additional representation comes from countries such as Niger, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Cabo Verde.
The pre selected candidates will first participate in a one month online course on Internet governance. This course will provide the foundational knowledge required for participation in the programme. The online phase will be followed by a two day residential training session where participants will engage in intensive discussions, practical exercises and policy dialogue with regional and international experts.
The West Africa School on Internet Governance aims to strengthen the capacity of stakeholders from government, civil society, academia, the private sector, media and the technical community to engage more effectively in national, regional and global Internet governance processes.
The full list of pre selected candidates for WASIG 2026 is available below.
WASIG 2026 Selected Fellows
Following a highly competitive selection process with over hundreds of applications across West Africa, we are pleased to announce the successful fellows for the 2026 West Africa School on Internet Governance (WASIG).
Congratulations to all selected participants who will be engaging in the next steps until the in-person meeting in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
For further information
WAIGF Secretariat
info@waigf.org
www.waigf.org
