. . . Victoria Falls hosts ITU Regional Development Forum and African Preparatory Meeting in same week
By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
VICTORIA FALLS — The delegates arrived on a Monday. They filled the Cresta Sprayview Hotel for the ITU Regional Development Forum for Africa 2026, a two-day gathering focused on universal, meaningful, and affordable connectivity.
There were speeches. There were panels. There were working sessions on the five new Regional Initiatives for Africa.
By Tuesday evening, that forum had concluded. Delegates exchanged handshakes, packed their notebooks, and prepared to depart.
But many did not leave.
By Wednesday, the same faces — or most of them — were back in conference rooms. A different meeting had begun. The Second African Preparatory Meeting for the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2026 was officially underway.
It was double duty at Victoria Falls. And it was entirely by design.
Dr. Gift Machengete, Director General of POTRAZ, acknowledged the back-to-back scheduling in his opening remarks to the preparatory meeting.
“Two days ago, I welcomed some of you here during the ITU Regional Development Forum,” he said. “However, I know that some of you were not able to attend that meeting.”
The overlap was not complete. Some delegates attended both forums. Some attended only one. But the strategic logic of holding the two meetings in the same location, in the same week, was clear.
The Regional Development Forum focused on operational and development issues: connecting schools, deploying infrastructure, building digital skills, mobilising resources through the Partner2Connect coalition. It was about the nuts and bolts of getting Africa online.
The Preparatory Meeting focuses on political and governance issues: elective positions, voting strategies, coordinated positions, representation on ITU bodies. It is about power, influence, and Africa’s voice in the rooms where global digital rules are made.
Together, the two meetings represent a comprehensive approach to Africa’s digital future. The first addresses the how of connectivity. The second addresses the who of governance.
For delegates attending both, the week has been intense.
“It is a lot,” one delegate said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “You go from discussing universal service funds and satellite connectivity to discussing voting blocs and election strategies. The gear shifts are significant. But that is also the point. Africa cannot afford to focus on one without the other.”
Machengete seemed aware of the demands on delegates’ time and energy. He opened the preparatory meeting with the same warm welcome he had offered two days earlier — the Zimbabwean custom of slaughtering a chicken for a friend, a goat for a relative, a cow for in-laws, and bringing those dear to the heart to Victoria Falls.
But the tone of the preparatory meeting was different from the development forum. The Regional Development Forum had been about partnership and collaboration. The preparatory meeting is about strategy and coordination.
“We want our people in the ITU Management Team – those elective positions. We want our people in the ITU Council. We want our people on the Radio Regulations Board,” Machengete said.
These are not the words of a development forum. They are the words of a political campaign.
The back-to-back scheduling also offered practical advantages. Delegates who travelled from across Africa for the development forum did not need to make a second trip for the preparatory meeting.
The continuity of attendance — with many of the same officials present — facilitated seamless coordination between the two agendas.
And there was a symbolic benefit as well. Victoria Falls, which Machengete described as the place you bring someone truly dear to your heart, became the backdrop for a week of intense African digital diplomacy.
By the time the preparatory meeting concludes on Thursday, delegates will have spent nearly a full week in conference rooms, working through the continent’s digital challenges and opportunities.
The smoke will continue to thunder outside.
And inside, Africa’s digital diplomats will have done the work that they hope will ensure that, at PP-26 and beyond, the continent’s voice is heard.
About Author
