Bridget Babigumira: “Women and Girls in Africa Still Face Numerous Barriers to Full Digital Inclusion”

For Russia, this is an opportunity to strengthen its position in the global technology market, showcase its solutions abroad and negotiate new forms of cooperation with international partners.

Ahead of the forum, feminist researcher and digital rights advocate Bridget Kyalimpa Babigumira told the online publication IT Russia about the challenges women and girls face in Africa and the kinds of cooperation she hopes to establish in Moscow.

– I am looking forward to attending the Global Digital Forum in Moscow as an opportunity to listen, learn and build meaningful connections across regions.

For me, digital development is not simply about technology. It is about people, participation and whose voices are represented in shaping the digital future. Across Africa, women and girls continue to experience barriers to meaningful digital inclusion, including the affordability of devices and connectivity, unequal access to digital skills, online harassment and technology-facilitated abuse. At the same time, digital technologies and artificial intelligence are creating new possibilities for knowledge, education, civic participation and social innovation.

I therefore hope the Forum will create space for honest conversations about how we can ensure that technological progress is inclusive, ethical and responsive to the realities of different communities. I am particularly interested in discussions around ethical AI, digital safety, children's protection online, digital journalism and the responsible use of technology for social good.

I also see the Forum as an opportunity to bring African perspectives into these conversations. Africa is not only a recipient of technological innovation; African communities are also developing creative and locally grounded approaches to addressing digital and social challenges. Women, young people, researchers, civil society organisations and community leaders have important knowledge to contribute to global discussions about the future of technology.

I hope to meet researchers, technology professionals, media practitioners, policymakers and civil society actors with whom I can exchange ideas and explore practical areas of collaboration. I am particularly interested in partnerships that can strengthen digital resilience, advance ethical approaches to AI, amplify underrepresented voices and support safer and more inclusive digital spaces.

Ultimately, I expect my visit to the Global Digital Forum to be more than an opportunity to attend sessions. I hope it will be a space for genuine exchange, to learn from different experiences, share perspectives from Africa and build relationships that can translate into meaningful collaboration beyond the Forum.

The digital future is being shaped now. I look forward to being part of that conversation and, importantly, helping ensure that it is a future in which everyone has a voice.