Victoria Falls – African leaders, policymakers and telecommunications experts gathered in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on Tuesday, 27 May 2026, for the 2nd Africa Preparatory Meeting ahead of the International Telecommunication Union Plenipotentiary Conference 2026, scheduled for Doha, Qatar, from 9 to 27 November 2026.
Zimbabwe used the platform to call on Africa to stop standing at the edge of international decision-making and instead take its place at the centre of conversations shaping the digital future of humanity.
Opening the high-level meeting, Zimbabwe’s Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, Tatenda Mavetera, represented by Deputy Minister Dingimuzi Phuti, delivered a message calling on Africa to become an architect of global digital policies rather than a spectator. She said Africa must move from the margins of technological governance and take its rightful place as a co-author of the world’s digital future. 
The ITU, a specialised United Nations agency headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, oversees global telecommunications and information communication technologies, including the allocation of radio-frequency spectrum, management of satellite orbits and the development of global technical standards. Its Plenipotentiary Conference, held every four years, is the organisation’s supreme decision-making body. At the Doha conference, member states will elect the ITU’s senior leadership, members of the ITU Council and the Radio Regulations Board, while also determining the organisation’s strategic and financial roadmap for the 2028 to 2031 period.
Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Matabeleland North, Richard Moyo, welcomed delegates to Zimbabwe’s tourism capital and encouraged participants to fully engage in the deliberations.
Director General of the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe, Dr Gift Machengete, delivered a call for African solidarity that drew on the symbolism of the Victoria Falls itself. He said African nations must “clench their fingers into one fist” to effectively advance continental interests within the ITU and other global platforms, urging member states to let their collective voice echo across the world “like the thunder of Mosi-oa-Tunya.”
Representing the ITU, Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava applauded the unity being demonstrated by African states and challenged delegates to approach discussions with professionalism and a solutions-oriented mindset capable of addressing the continent’s pressing digital challenges.
ATU Secretary-General John Omo also stressed the importance of collaboration, saying Africa’s strength lies in unity and coordinated action.
Zimbabwe’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, Dr Beaullar Chirume, said Zimbabwe was honoured to host the gathering and called on delegates to commit to practical policies promoting affordable connectivity, digital sovereignty and the protection of children online.
Minister Mavetera outlined three priorities for the preparatory meeting: developing common African positions on key PP-26 agenda items, building strategic alliances with regional and global partners, and ensuring the effective implementation of agreed resolutions.
In a symbolic gesture, she proposed that the final resolutions of the meeting be known as the “Victoria Falls Commitment to Digital Sovereignty and Inclusion.”
