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DR. FIONA ASONGA – CEO TESPOK
Dr. Fiona Asonga’s leadership is not about breaking barriers; it is about building bridges for the internet ecosystem. Her story is one of resilience, determination, and a deep-seated belief in the potential of ICT in impacting lives.
She is an Executive Committee Member with the UN Internet Governance Forum Supporting Association (IGFSA), where the focus is on fundraising to support the multi-stakeholder internet governance model. The funds raised are distributed to cover costs of the National, Youth and Regional Internet Governance Forums around the world. The bulk of the funding goes to the forums in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Dr Asonga’s global efforts to promote multi-stakeholder internet governance necessitated her to deliver courses on collaborative governance through the internet society to regulators around the world and at the US Technical Training Institute, Washington DC, USA. She is a strong advocate of co-regulation, with regards to technology adoption especially for Africa, inspired by the theme, ‘The future of technology adoption lies in the ability to collaborate across sectors, both service providers and regulators need to collaborate.”
Dr. Asonga has over the years, served in leadership positions both regionally and globally. From 2011 to 2018, she was one of 3 Africa’s representatives to Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN); Address Supporting Organization – Address Council that focuses on the internet numbering system. During this time, she held critical leadership roles in
- Reviewing and recommending changes to ICANN’s accountability and transparency mechanisms in 2013;
- From 2015 to 2016 in the ICANN Cross Community Working Group on Accountability of the IANA Stewardship Transition from the sole US oversight to a global multi-stakeholder community under ICANN;
- Member of the ICANN Cross Community Working Group on Accountability of the IANA Stewardship Transition workstream 2 during which she was Chairing the Diversity Working Group that developed accountability and transparency mechanisms between 2016 to 2018.
Dr. Asonga’s role at ICANN in policy development has impacted the region’s ICT policy development processes. At TESPOK, she is constantly receiving delegations from various government regulators in the region seeking her feedback on policy proposals that they may be considering. She is perceived as a reliable sounding board for ICT regulators, within Africa.
Dr. Asonga’s leadership is evident in her most recent election as a director representing East Africa on the Africa’s Internet Registry (AFRINIC) board, through an election process that got the resource holders to vote. Dr. Asonga reputation as a dependable and proven performer got her endorsed not only by the region’s service providers but also governments through the African Telecommunications Union and Smart Africa. Her breif meeting with H.E. Gokhool Dharambeer, President of Mauritius, during the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Norway, June 2025 during the Global UN Internet Governance Forum impacted on the governance crisis that the regional internet registry had been undergoing since 2021. It became the trigger that led to communication between ICANN and the Mauritius government and put the registry under government protection to enable the September 2025 election. The region’s Internet and Connectivity providers have given Dr. Asongaa a vote of confindence in her ability to play a key role in re-setting the organization after three years of having neither a board nor Chief Executive Officer. The new board is expected to ensure proper governance structures for AFRINIC while ensuring accountability as well as transparecy on IP Address distribution and management across the continent.
Dr. Asonga’s leadership has been an inspiration to several technology organizations, show-casing quality women leadership across the African continent. She started by mentoring girls in STEM and is today mentoring both young men and women enterprenuers from Nairobi to Accra, Lagos, Dakar and Banjul to Kinshasa, Lilongwe, Johanesburg and Capetown.
Dr. Asonga has been involved in the journey of growing TESPOK for eight years, since she joined the then seven years old organization, to 161 members organization. She has worked hard and tirelessly to ensure that the members voices are heard and considered in the technology space. Her emphasis on authenticity, inclusivity, and sustainability provides a roadmap for leaders seeking to create positive impacts while remaining focussed on business profitability and sustainability. By maintaining focus on long-term consequences rather than short-term gains, she models a leadership style that serves broader societal needs while at the same time, advancing organizational objectives.
For instance, in the 2025 Africa Tech Festival, TESPOK partnered with the Cortex Hub in Cape Town, South Africa, to run an Artificial Intelligence Model Context Protocol hackathon that was focused on developing MCP AI programs and their commercialization processes. All the over 100 participants will be assisted to improve their solutions and with the support of Digital Council Africa, receive funding when ready to commercialize.
Dr. Asonga believes that there has been a shift in the corporate leadership arena over the last couple of years. Leadership isn’t about barking orders from a mountaintop. Her leadership philosophy is, ‘walking alongside your people, your team; with open ears and a full heart to solve corporate problems,’.
Through her vision and dedication, Dr. Fiona Asonga continues to illuminate the path for others, providing that much needed guidance and thought leadership on ICT for development.
