Dawit Bekele, the Internet Society’s Regional Bureau Director for Africa, paid a visit to The Gambia from 17-18 September 2017. This was the first time a senior Internet Society staff visited The Gambia with the intention of meeting Internet Society Gambia chapter leadership, members, and local partners. The aim was to discuss our past and future plans for more engagement and future Internet development. It was also an opportunity to raise the profile of the Internet Society Gambia Chapter.
During his short visit, Dawit Bekele and the Internet Society Gambia chapter executives took the opportunity to meet with the Minister, Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure (MOICI), Honorable Demba Jawo.
The team also visited and met with the Management of The Gambia’s Public Utilities and Regulatory Agency (PURA) as well as the Chairperson of the Serrekunda Internet Exchange Point SIXP, Mrs. Isatou Jah. Among the topics discussed was the way forward in fostering partnership with local stakeholders in supporting Internet development, security, and capacity building.
The official visit was preceded by a visit to the Internet Society Gambia office where the team met with the Director General of The Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (TANGO), Mr. Ousman Yabo, and toured the Internet Society Gambia office, library, and the TANGO hall facilities. The team ended the tour with a lunch and discussion at Ocean Bay Hotel and a short visit to Kachikally Museum and Crocodile Pool in Bakau.
About the Internet Society Gambia Chapter
The Internet Society Gambia Chapter’s goal is to bring together and work with local stakeholders in supporting local Internet development initiatives, especially in the areas of building technical capacity for local engineers and fostering Internet literacy and user awareness. The chapter also aims to work on promoting the development of local content, access, and policy and to encourage more engagements of our local community in national/regional efforts towards promoting open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people in The Gambia.