The Connect Africa Summit marks the launch of a global multi-stakeholder partnership to mobilize the human, financial and technical resources required to bridge major gaps in information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure across the region. It also provides an opportunity for civil society organizations to review the connectivity situation in Africa. Building upon the success of the Mombasa workshop in March 2006, in which APC and its civil society partners articulated a number of concerns surrounding ownership and control of the East African Submarine cable System (EASSy) to the EASSy consortium and other stakeholders, the aim of the civil society workshop will be to:

• Review developments across Africa with respect to open access to ICT infrastructure over the last eighteen months, including the issue of the regulation of submarine cables on both the east and west coasts;

• Produce a set of recommendations on open access to ICT infrastructure In Africa to be presented to the Connect Africa Summit; and

• Draw the attention of the media to these recommendations.

Unlike the Mombasa workshop, which involved a broad range of stakeholders in its consultation, the Kigali workshop will be limited to civil society organizations and their representatives in order to review the situation regarding connectivity in Africa and to make recommendations from a civil society perspective.