Nairobi to Host Internet Governance Forum 2026; Egypt’s Historical Leadership Highlighted
The 2026 Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is scheduled to take place from December 14 to 18 in Nairobi, Kenya. The forum serves as the United Nations Secretary-General-convened platform designed for inclusive, multistakeholder dialogue addressing Internet governance and related digital technologies.
Forum Development and Legacy Established in 2006, the IGF has convened 20 global annual meetings hosted by various governments. Over the years, it has developed a robust intersessional ecosystem in close cooperation with more than 180 national, regional, and youth IGF initiatives, backed by targeted capacity-development activities. The 2026 process builds directly on the outcomes of the first 20 IGF meetings, including the 20th IGF hosted by the Government of Norway in Lillestrøm in June 2025, continuing to advance inclusive, multistakeholder dialogue on Internet governance and digital policy issues.
Egypt’s Prominent Institutional Role It is worth mentioning that Egypt has played a prominent and multifaceted role in the IGF ecosystem across global, regional, and Arab levels. The country hosted the fourth global IGF in Sharm El-Sheikh in November 2009, drawing over 1,800 participants and earning high praise from UN officials as a landmark edition of the forum.
On the African level, Egypt holds the unique distinction of hosting the very first African IGF (AfIGF) in Cairo in October 2012, effectively founding that continental platform, and later welcomed the forum back to Sharm El-Sheikh in December 2017 for its sixth edition. Within the Arab world, Egypt has served as the technical secretariat of the Arab IGF since its establishment in 2012, cementing its institutional leadership in regional internet governance. Cairo further hosted the fifth Arab IGF in January 2020. Across all these extensive engagements, Egypt has consistently positioned itself as a key hub for shaping internet policy dialogue across multiple tiers.
