The Ghana School on Internet Governance (GhanaSIG) is an annual fellowship event organised by the E-Governance and Internet Governance Foundation for Africa (EGIGFA). 

The aim of the GhanaSIG is to create an avenue for people from diverse sectors and backgrounds to acquire the requisite skills in order to participate meaningfully to Internet Governance discourse at the local, national, regional and the international levels. 

The programme continues to unearth and raise new global Internet governance participants who are making meaningful impacts in the ecosystem. The fellowship specifically examines global Internet Governance issues by taking into consideration its bearing on local and regional contexts in Ghana and Africa. Whilst the programme targets people from Ghana, we welcome people from other countries to bring in different perspectives to deepen the learning experience.

GhanaSIG is a registered member of the Dynamic Coalition on Internet Governance Schools. These are internet governance schools from across the globe who share common goals and ideas on how to run these schools.  

GhanaSIG is a hybrid event which combines both online learning and face-to-face sessions. To participate, one would have to apply when the call is opened for that particular year. Selected applicants gets notified at the end of the selection stage. After that selected Fellows are required to participate in a mandatory online learning which lasts for about one month. During the online learning, participants will be introduced to the various concepts of internet governance – such as history of the internet, introduction to ICANN, introduction to internet governance, among others.  

One would have to complete all the online learning courses, submit the certificates and perform related activities in full. Participation in this online learning is what qualifies the selected Fellows to progress to the face-to-face sessions.

The face-to-face sessions are handled by experts and experienced people from Ghana and abroad.  Essential topics that will be handled during the face-to-face training include the multi-stakeholder aspect of internet governance, digital rightsright, actors in the internet governance ecosystem, how to start engaging in the internet governance ecosystem etc.

The face-to-face meeting is the climax of the fellowship event.  The previous face-to-face sessions were all held at Accra, Ghana for one week. These sessions are full day events, hence, it cannot be combined with participant’s regular jobs.  

At the end of the fellowship, the Fellows will be fully equipped with the necessary know-how to make impacts in the broad and vibrant internet governance ecosystem.  Above all, the participants will become proud Fellows of the Ghana School on Internet Governance (GhanaSIG).

The fellowship is free and selected participants are not required to pay any fees. No educational qualification is required to participate, however, it is expected that the participants should be able to read, write and speak English with ease.  

GhanaSIG is not an academic programme, but a fellowship event to train participants on how to engage in the internet governance ecosystem. CertificatesCertificate of participation are awarded to successful Fellows