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Fourth ITU Regional Workshop for Africa “Strengthening ICT Integrity: Combating Counterfeits, Testing Challenges, and Fraudulent Communications in the Africa Region”

The International Telecommunication Union organized the Fourth ITU Regional Workshop for Africa on “Strengthening ICT Integrity: Combating Counterfeits, Testing Challenges, and Fraudulent Communications in the Africa Region”. The workshop was hosted by the Telecommunications Research and Studies Telecommunications Center (CERT-Tunisia) and TunisieTelecom, and took place at the Hotel Verdi Tunis Beach Resort (formerly known as Hotel Ramada Plaza) in Tunis, Tunisia, 1 October 2025. It was conducted in English only.

The workshop was followed by the ITU-T Study Group 11 Regional Group for Africa (SG11RG-AFR) meeting which took place at the same venue from 1-3 October 2025.

It should be noted that the SG11RG-AFR meeting commenced at 1600 hours on 1 October 2025, following the conclusion of the workshop. More details are available on the SG11RG-AFR web page.

Objectives:

This was the fourth workshop in the series to support African countries in addressing multifaceted challenges in the Africa region related to counterfeiting, testing, and fraudulent communications. The event aimed at strengthening regional responses through knowledge sharing, policy dialogue, and technical cooperation. It served as a high-level platform for stakeholders from across the region, including governments, regulators, vendors, operators, and testing institution to:

Discuss the current challenges of the African region on conformance and interoperability;
Explore the implementation of the ITU Conformance and Interoperability (C&I) Programme and its role in supporting national and regional C&I initiatives across Africa;
Address the critical issue of counterfeit and stolen ICT devices, with particular emphasis on practical tools and mechanisms such as Equipment Identity Registers (EIR), product verification systems, and enforcement strategies;
Discuss emerging threats related to fraudulent communications, including scams calls, caller ID spoofing, and unauthorized use of network resources, with a focus on how ITU-T Study Group 11 (SG11) standards and frameworks can help mitigate these risks.

The workshop also showcased regional best practices and highlighted current initiatives led by ITU-T SG11 and its Regional Group for Africa (SG11RG-AFR) in supporting Africa's efforts to build a secure, trustworthy, and high-quality digital ecosystem.

Target Audience:
Participation was free of charge and open to ITU Member States, in particular members of the Africa region, Sector Members, Associates and Academic Institutions and to any individual from a country that is a member of ITU who wishes to contribute to the work. All vendors and manufacturers, research institutions and academia, laboratories, regulators, operators, NGOs, customs authorities and security agencies, national standards and conformity assessment bodies and other such similar organizations within the Africa Region were welcomed to attend.

Watch recording of the session here