Join West Africa’s Premier Regional School on Internet Governance and Emerging Technologies — MRU SIG Calls on Global Partners to Power Its 2026 Edition
MONROVIA, Liberia — In a sub-region where fewer than half of all citizens can afford to get online, a bold experiment in digital leadership is quietly rewriting West Africa’s place in the global Internet conversation. The Mano River Union School on Internet Governance and Emerging Technologies (MRU SIG) — the premier regional training platform serving Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire — has opened applications for its 2026 edition and is calling on donors, foundations, technology companies, and the international Internet governance community to join as partners in shaping the next generation of digital policy leaders.
The School was founded on a simple but powerful conviction: the Mano River Union sub-region cannot afford to be a bystander in the governance of the Internet. As artificial intelligence, data protection, cybersecurity, and digital public infrastructure reshape economies and societies worldwide, MRU SIG exists to ensure that West African voices are trained, credentialed, and present wherever digital policy is debated — from national parliaments and regulatory agencies to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), ICANN, the Internet Society (ISOC), and the African Union’s digital transformation processes.
The challenges the School confronts are formidable. Across the four MRU countries, Internet penetration lags far behind global averages, and the price of one gigabyte of data can consume a significant share of an ordinary worker’s monthly income. Rural communities remain largely disconnected, women and girls face persistent barriers to digital participation, and limited digital literacy exposes millions to online fraud, misinformation, and exploitation. National institutions, meanwhile, are stretched thin against rising cybersecurity threats. And when the world gathers to write the rules of the digital age, the Mano River basin is too often absent from the table — a silence the School is determined to end.
“You cannot govern what you do not understand, and you cannot influence a room you have never entered,” said Peterking Quaye, Coordinator of the MRU IGF. “This School exists to open those rooms. Our fellows leave not just with knowledge, but with the confidence, networks, and standing to represent their countries in the most consequential policy debates of our time.”
The model is working. Since its first cohort, MRU SIG envision trained over 150 fellows from across government, civil society, academia, the media, the technical community, and the private sector. Its alumni network now spans all four member states, with graduates contributing to national IGF initiatives, advising on data protection legislation, strengthening national cybersecurity responses, and representing the sub-region at continental and global forums. The School’s multistakeholder faculty — drawn from partner institutions such as ISOC chapters, national regulators, universities, and regional civil society networks — reflects the collaborative governance model it teaches.
Yet the School stands at a crossroads. Each cycle, qualified applications far outstrip available places, and the expanded 2026 curriculum — covering artificial intelligence governance, digital public infrastructure, data protection, and cybersecurity — demands resources the sub-region alone cannot supply. Organizers are therefore appealing to the global community for targeted support: core funding to underwrite the 2026 cohort; sponsored fellowships and travel scholarships, particularly for women and candidates from rural and underserved communities; visiting experts and guest faculty from the global Internet governance ecosystem; laptops, equipment, and training materials; and connectivity sponsorship to guarantee dependable Internet access for the duration of the program.
The return on that investment, organizers argue, is measured not in weeks of training but in decades of influence. “Every partner who invests in this School is investing in a future minister, a future regulator, a future ICANN board member from our sub-region,” said , Chairperson of the MRU SIG Board. “We are building the human infrastructure of West Africa’s digital future — and we are inviting the world to build it with us.”
The invitation is now open on two fronts. Young professionals, advocates, technologists, and policymakers from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire are encouraged to apply for the 2026 edition before the deadline of August 1,2026 . At the same time, international donors, development partners, foundations, and technology companies are invited to contact the organizing committee to explore funding, fellowship sponsorship, faculty exchange, and in-kind partnerships. To apply or partner, visit [www.mrusig.org] or email [admission@mrusig.org]. The next generation of Internet governance leaders is ready to rise — the question is who will stand behind them.
