Dear AFRALO At-Large Structures and Community Members, It was an honor to stand with many of you at ICANN84 meeting. Taking over the mantle on that final day from an Amazon and colleague was not just a formal transition for me; it was a firsthand reminder of the energy, talent, and untapped potential within our African delegation. As I formally begin my term as your ALAC Representative, I am not here to simply occupy a seat. I am here to ensure that the African voice is not just heard, but is decisive. The decisions we make today regarding the success of the New gTLD Next Round, Universal Acceptance (UA), and DNS Security will define the digital landscape of our continent for the next decade. - Our Strategic Pillars for Digital Dignity. To move from "being present" to leading the conversation, I am asking every ALS to align with these three pillars over the next 20 months: 1. High-Impact Participation: Being on the list is no longer the benchmark. I challenge every ALS to contribute to at least two ICANN Public Comment proceedings per year. We must translate our local challenges into global policy. 2. Linguistic Sovereignty (UA): An internet that doesn’t speak our languages is an internet that excludes our people. We will move beyond awareness and into advocacy, engaging local developers and registrars to ensure African scripts and IDNs are fully functional. 3. Defending the Multistakeholder Model: We are the bridge between technical policy and grassroots impact. We must educate our local governments on why a bottom-up, unified internet is the only way to safeguard Africa’s digital sovereignty. - The First Step: Intelligence from the Field. I refuse to represent you in a vacuum. To be your advocate in the ALAC, I need your ground-truth data. What are the specific barriers in your region? Is it the rising cost of domain registration? A surge in DNS-based scams? Or perhaps a lack of technical capacity for local hosting? "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." — Let’s go far, together. Immediate Action Items. - The "Top Two" Challenge: Reply to this email with the two most pressing internet governance issues currently impacting your specific country or region. - Join the Policy Roadmap Session: Our next monthly call (after ICANN85) will be a deep dive into the upcoming ICANN milestones. We will simplify the ICANN "alphabet soup" of policy so we can focus on the impact. Kudos to our AfRALO Chair. - Empower the Next Generation: If your ALS does not have a designated Youth Liaison, please nominate a young leader this month to join our regional capacity-building initiatives. I am energized by the trust in a strong ICANN Africa. Let’s make the most impactful era in AFRALO’s history, together. In solidarity, Dr. Adebunmi Adeola Akinbo ICANN ALAC Representative for Africa (2025–2027).