On the 22-24 July 2019, BOCRA hosted the 7 th Africa DNS Forum at Avani Hotel under the theme: “Building Trust in the African DNS Industry for a Thriving Digital Economy”. The event attracted over 200 participants locally and regionally in order to discuss key issues in the DNS industry that directly affect the growth of a digital economy in Africa. Discussions ranged from registrar business, payment systems, social impacts of DNS in Africa, DNS security & stability, universal
acceptance, key initiatives and the challenges thereof.

The hot topic that seemed to stir more engaged conversations was on Privacy and Data Protection. Most participants and experts concluded that the major setback to a digital economy growth is the lack of harmonized policies and Legal Perspectives. The forum also identified cyber security as the major threat to digitalizing the economy across Africa as it is a crime that does not respect borders.

It is worth noting that the advantage of hosting such regional and global events is crucial as it creates awareness to the local community and informs key stakeholders and decision makers.

Such events also speak largely to capacity building for the host and across the African continent as these often bring together experts in the field, making it easy to form essential networks.