The first Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) capacity building workshop for Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) in Underserved Regions Working Group is currently underway in Nairobi. The workshop aims to equip African governments with capacities to ensure active and meaningful participation at ICANN.

Thomas Schneider, GAC Chair says the GAC has a key role in ensuring that ICANN functions effectively.

"We now have 170 members from national governments in different territories plus over thirty regional and international intergovernmental institutions and we advice ICANN on policy issues and on matters related to international law. As the internet has become more and more fundamental to all our daily lives in private and at work meaning that governmental advice as to the correct management of the internet remains important."

Goran Marby, ICANN President and CEO echoed Schneider in his address with a call for greater participation of African countries in ICANN to draw from the wealth of experience needed to capitalise on the continent's internet resources.

"The African continent's participation in ICANN is important and this why we have opened an ICANN engagement office here in Nairobi last year. Participation is growing every day, and we want to work together, within our mission, to make sure countries in Africa are well represented on one secure, stable and resilient global Internet,'' noted Marby.

According to the Communications Authority of Kenya's (CAK) sector statistics report for the first quarter of the financial year 2016/2017, mobile phone and data/internet penetration in Kenya stands at 87.3% and 85.3%, respectively.

Broadband penetration is said to be at 27%. .KE domain names have now reached 64,328.

Joseph Mucheru, the Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Information Communication and Technology in Kenya, said African governments need to create more regional Internet Exchange Points (IXP) to promote Internet growth, boost safety and make their services more affordable. Kenya's Internet Exchange Point (KIXP) allows local ISPs to exchange traffic within the country without the need to do so through other countries.

''There is need to support the growth of national and regional IXPs to promote Internet traffic growth and subsequent affordability as well as safety of the Internet,''

Mucheru says African countries need to synergise in order to grow the country code top level domains (ccTLD) and Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) as well as Cyber Incident Response Teams (CIRTS).