Minister of Communications and Information Technology Raafat Hindy held a series of bilateral meetings on the margins of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS Forum 2026) running from July 6 to 10 in Geneva under the presidency of Egypt.
During his meetings with top officials from Estonia, Nigeria, the African Union (AU), and the Smart Africa alliance, the minister discussed way to boost cooperation in Artificial Intelligence (AI), digital transformation, capacity building, and telecom infrastructure.
In a meeting with Estonia’s Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs Liisa-Ly Pakosta Hindy discussed mechanisms for fostering cooperation on AI deployment to enhance government services and share relevant expertise on responsible AI governance.
Hindy also met with Nigerian Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Bosun Tijani, Hindy probed expanding cooperation for infrastructure development and activating a bilateral MoU to train digital talent in AI, data science, cybersecurity, cloud computing, software development, and digital government.
During talks with Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy (I&E) at the African Union Lerato Dorothy Mataboge, the minister reviewed ways to promote cooperation digital infrastructure, continental digital transformation, AI regulatory frameworks, and AI sandboxes.
Hindy invited Mataboge to visit Egypt in October for the third edition of the African Presidential Youth AI and Robotics Competition (AYAIR).
During a meeting with Director General and Chief Executive Officer of Smart Africa Lacina Koné, the minister discussed ways to strengthen cooperation on digital skills development, artificial intelligence, public digital infrastructure, digital innovation. Theu also discussed cooperation for supporting startups.
The two sides discussed opportunities for implementing joint capacity-building initiatives, sharing expertise in digital skills development programs, strengthening cooperation on AI governance and its applications, and supporting public digital infrastructure projects in Africa.
Hindy and Koné emphasized the importance of translating this cooperation into practical projects with tangible results all across the continent.
The meetings were attended by a host of senior Egyptian officials, including Executive President of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Egypt (NTRA) Mohamed Shamroukh.
As the forum concludes today, Hindy honored high-level session managers. He is also expected to deliver the presidency report outlining the summit’s outcomes and key recommendations.
