Promoting Effective and Inclusive ICT Policy in Africa

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  HomeCollaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)  /  ADRF
31Oct

Applications are Open for a New Round of Africa Digital Rights Funding!

Author CIPESA Posted on

Announcement |

The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) is calling for proposals to support digital rights work across Africa.

This call for proposals is the 10th under the CIPESA-run Africa Digital Rights Fund (ADRF) initiative that provides rapid response and flexible grants to organisations and networks to implement activities that promote digital rights and digital democracy, including advocacy, litigation, research, policy analysis, skills development, and movement building.

 The current call is particularly interested in proposals for work related to:

  • Data governance including aspects of data localisation, cross-border data flows, biometric databases, and digital ID.
  • Digital resilience for human rights defenders, other activists and journalists.
  • Censorship and network disruptions.
  • Digital economy.
  • Digital inclusion, including aspects of accessibility for persons with disabilities.
  • Disinformation and related digital harms.
  • Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV).
  • Platform accountability and content moderation.
  • Implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
  • Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).

Grant amounts available range between USD 5,000 and USD 25,000 per applicant, depending on the need and scope of the proposed intervention. Cost-sharing is strongly encouraged, and the grant period should not exceed eight months. Applications will be accepted until November 17, 2025. 

Since its launch in April 2019, the ADRF has provided initiatives across Africa with more than one million US Dollars and contributed to building capacity and traction for digital rights advocacy on the continent.  

Application Guidelines

Geographical Coverage

The ADRF is open to organisations/networks based or operational in Africa and with interventions covering any country on the continent.

Size of Grants

Grant size shall range from USD 5,000 to USD 25,000. Cost sharing is strongly encouraged.

Eligible Activities

The activities that are eligible for funding are those that protect and advance digital rights and digital democracy. These may include but are not limited to research, advocacy, engagement in policy processes, litigation, digital literacy and digital security skills building. 

Duration

The grant funding shall be for a period not exceeding eight months.

Eligibility Requirements

  • The Fund is open to organisations and coalitions working to advance digital rights and digital democracy in Africa. This includes but is not limited to human rights defenders, media, activists, think tanks, legal aid groups, and tech hubs. Entities working on women’s rights, or with youth, refugees, persons with disabilities, and other marginalised groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
  • The initiatives to be funded will preferably have formal registration in an African country, but in some circumstances, organisations and coalitions that do not have formal registration may be considered. Such organisations need to show evidence that they are operational in a particular African country or countries.
  • The activities to be funded must be in/on an African country or countries.

Ineligible Activities

  • The Fund shall not fund any activity that does not directly advance digital rights or digital democracy.
  • The Fund will not support travel to attend conferences or workshops, except in exceptional circumstances where such travel is directly linked to an activity that is eligible.
  • Costs that have already been incurred are ineligible.
  • The Fund shall not provide scholarships.
  • The Fund shall not support equipment or asset acquisition.

Administration

The Fund is administered by CIPESA. An internal and external panel of experts will make decisions on beneficiaries based on the following criteria:

  • If the proposed intervention fits within the Fund’s digital rights priorities.
  • The relevance to the given context/country.
  • Commitment and experience of the applicant in advancing digital rights and digital democracy.
  • Potential impact of the intervention on digital rights and digital democracy policies or practices.

The deadline for submissions is Monday, November 17, 2025. The application form can be accessed here.

Democratising Big Tech: Lessons from South Africa’s 2024 Election
03Jul

Democratising Big Tech: Lessons from South Africa’s 2024 Election

Author Brian Posted on

By Jean-Andre Deenik | ADRF

South Africa’s seventh democratic elections in May 2024 marked a critical turning point — not just in the political sphere, but in the digital one too. For the first time in our democracy’s history, the information space surrounding an election was shaped more by algorithms, platforms, and private tech corporations than by public broadcasters or community mobilisation.

We have entered an era where the ballot box is not the only battleground for democracy. The online world — fast-moving, largely unregulated, and increasingly dominated by profit-driven platforms — has become central to how citizens access information, express themselves, and participate politically.

At the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), we knew we could not stand by as these forces influenced the lives, choices, and rights of South Africans — particularly those already navigating inequality and exclusion. Between May 2024 and April 2025, with support from the African Digital Rights Fund (ADRF), we implemented the Democratising Big Tech project: an ambitious effort to expose the harms of unregulated digital platforms during elections and advocate for transparency, accountability, and justice in the digital age.

Why This Work Mattered

The stakes were high. In the run-up to the elections, political content flooded platforms like Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter). Some of it was civic-minded and constructive — but much of it was misleading, inflammatory, and harmful.

Our concern wasn’t theoretical. We had already seen how digital platforms contributed to offline violence during the July 2021 unrest, and how coordinated disinformation campaigns were used to sow fear and confusion. Communities already marginalised — migrants, sexual minorities, women — bore the brunt of online abuse and harassment.

South Africa’s Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, dignity, and access to information. Yet these rights are being routinely undermined by algorithmic systems and opaque moderation policies, most of which are designed and governed far beyond our borders. Our project set out to change that.

Centering People: A Public Education Campaign

The project was rooted in a simple truth: rights mean little if people don’t know they have them — or don’t know when they’re being violated. One of our first goals was to build public awareness around digital harms and the broader human rights implications of tech platforms during the elections.

We launched Legal Resources Radio, a podcast series designed to unpack the real-world impact of technologies like political microtargeting, surveillance, and facial recognition. Our guests — journalists, legal experts, academics, and activists — helped translate technical concepts into grounded, urgent conversations.

We spoke to:

Alongside the podcasts, we used Instagram to host

Holding Big Tech to Account

A cornerstone of the project was our collaboration with Global Witness, Mozilla, and the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT). Together, we set out to test whether major tech companies (TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and X) were prepared to protect the integrity of South Africa’s 2024 elections. To do this, we designed and submitted controlled test advertisements that mimicked real-world harmful narratives, including xenophobia, gender-based disinformation, and incitement to violence. These ads were submitted in multiple South African languages to assess whether the platforms’ content moderation systems, both automated and human, could detect and block them. The findings revealed critical gaps in platform preparedness and informed both advocacy and public awareness efforts ahead of the elections.

The results were alarming.

  • Simulated ads with xenophobic content were approved in multiple South African languages;
  • Gender-based harassment ads directed at women journalists were not removed;
  • False information about voting — including the wrong election date and processes — was accepted by TikTok and YouTube.

These findings confirmed what many civil society organisations have long argued: that Big Tech neglects the Global South, failing to invest in local language moderation, culturally relevant policies, or meaningful community engagement. These failures are not just technical oversights. They endanger lives, and they undermine the legitimacy of our democratic processes.

Building an Evidence Base for Reform

Beyond exposing platform failures, we also produced a shadow human rights impact assessment. This report examined how misinformation, hate speech, and algorithmic discrimination disproportionately affect marginalised communities. It documented how online disinformation isn’t simply digital noise — it often translates into real-world harm, from lost trust in electoral systems to threats of violence and intimidation.

We scrutinised South Africa’s legal and policy frameworks and found them severely lacking. Despite the importance of online information ecosystems, there are no clear laws regulating how tech companies should act in our context. Our report recommends:

  • Legal obligations for platforms to publish election transparency reports;
  • Stronger data protection and algorithmic transparency;
  • Content moderation strategies inclusive of all South African languages and communities;
  • Independent oversight mechanisms and civil society input.

This work is part of a longer-term vision: to ensure that South Africa’s digital future is rights-based, inclusive, and democratic.

Continental Solidarity

In April 2025, we took this work to Lusaka, Zambia, where we presented at the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF) 2025. We shared lessons from South Africa and connected with allies across the continent who are also working to make technology accountable to the people it impacts.

What became clear is that while platforms may ignore us individually, there is power in regional solidarity. From Kenya to Nigeria, Senegal to Zambia, African civil society is uniting around a shared demand: that digital technology must serve the public good — not profit at the cost of people’s rights.

What Comes Next?

South Africa’s 2024 elections have come and gone. But the challenges we exposed remain. The online harms we documented did not begin with the elections, and they will not end with them.

That’s why we see the Democratising Big Tech project not as a one-off intervention, but as the beginning of a sustained push for digital justice. We will continue to build coalitions, push for regulatory reform, and educate the public. We will work with journalists, technologists, and communities to resist surveillance, expose disinformation, and uphold our rights online.

Because the fight for democracy doesn’t end at the polls. It must also be fought — and won — in the digital spaces where power is increasingly wielded, often without scrutiny or consequence.

Final Reflections

At the LRC, we do not believe in technology for technology’s sake. We believe in justice — and that means challenging any system, digital or otherwise, that puts people at risk or threatens their rights. Through this project, we’ve seen what’s possible when civil society speaks with clarity, courage, and conviction.

The algorithms may be powerful. But our Constitution, our communities, and our collective will are stronger.

25Mar

CIPESA-Run ADRF Awards USD 140,000 to Eleven Digital Democracy Non-Profits Amidst Funding Cuts

Author CIPESA Posted on

By Ashnah Kalemera |

With many funders shifting their funding priorities about human rights, governance and livelihood issues, African Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), human rights defenders and activists have been severely impacted. As a result, critical programming on civic participation, tech accountability, digital rights and digital inclusion, which was scoring wins in the face of growing authoritarianism on the continent, has been crippled. 

In response to this changing funding landscape, the Africa Digital Rights Fund (ADRF) managed by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has awarded USD 140,000 to eleven non-profit organisations as bridging funds. The discretionary awards are aimed at bridging the gap in operations and programming faced by CIPESA’s past and present partners and subgrantees. The funds bring to USD one million the total awarded by CIPESA under the  ADRF initiative since its launch in April 2019.

According to CIPESA’s Executive Director, Dr. Wairagala Wakabi, “anchor institutions such as CIPESA have lost funding and that means many crucial but smaller actors across the continent have equally been affected”. Nonetheless, CIPESA is committed to “defending digital democracy amidst the steady  democratic regression we are witnessing, and the cruciality of funding organisations that are battling rising authoritarianism cannot be overemphasised,” said Wakabi.

The recipient organisations work on various digital democracy issues in 10 countries – Cote d’Ivorie, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda and Zambia. These organisations work on catalytic issues in difficult contexts and have established track records. The selection of beneficiaries was guided by a survey on the impact of funding termination by the United States (US) government. 

Round Nine ADRF Beneficiaries:

  1. Action et Humanisme – based in Cote d’Ivoire, the organisation works to advance digital accessibility for persons with disabilities. 
  2. Agora, an online activism initiative focused on social accountability in Uganda.
  3. Bloggers of Zambia, whose motto is “Keeping Online Spaces Open” and is pushing for progressive legislative reforms in Zambia.
  4. Digital Rights Frontlines (formerly DefyHateNow), which is at the frontline of countering hate speech and disinformation online in South Sudan.
  5. Digital Shelter, a Somali group working to advance the digital civic space.
  6. Forum de Organizacoes de Pessoas com Deficiencia – FAMOD, which works to promote the rights of persons with disabilities in Mozambique, including the right to information through web accessibility and inclusion through affordable access to technology.
  7. Inform Africa, a media integrity hub in Ethiopia.
  8. Jonction, a Senegalese digital rights advocacy organisation.
  9. Thraets, a tech research lab focused on elections integrity and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated content.
  10. Rudi International, a Congolese digital rights advocacy and digital literacy organisation.
  11. Tanda Community Network, based in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, the community network is championing work against Technology Facilitated Gender Based Violence (TFGBV) alongside efforts to bridge the digital divide.

The survey revealed that following the suspension and eventual termination of U.S. funding, many organisations had reduced the scope of their activities, scaled back staff salaries and benefits, and in a number of cases laid off staff. Over 90% of the organisations surveyed  were uncertain about their ability to maintain operations beyond two months. Only one of the surveyed organisations said it would remain fully operational if it did not receive additional funding.

A staggering 92% of respondents had reduced programming scope and one in three respondent organisations reported that they had slashed staff. For one recipient, over 60% of the team was “not able to continue working in any capacity going forward”. The percentage of US funding was between 20% and 60% of the annual budgets of the organisations surveyed.

Even in the face of a grim funding future, civil society organisations that face harassment and operate in volatile political environments remain resilient. As the head of one of the grant beneficiary organisations stated: “Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury to cease activities”. The same unwavering commitment to continue operations was demonstrated by the DR Congo-based recipient whose digital literacy training centre was robbed during the January 2025 rebel attacks in Goma.

The ADRF provides financial support to organisations and networks to overcome barriers to accessing funding and building a stronger movement of digital and human rights advocates in Africa. The Fund has also built the capacity of initiatives in advocacy, public communication, research and data-for-advocacy. Supported initiatives commend the ADRF as a unique funding initiative that has broken ranks with traditional funders’ structure. See previous ADRF recipients here.

The discretionary round of the ADRF was supported by funding from the Skoll Foundation, the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund and the Ford Foundation. Other supporters of the ADRF in the past include the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the German Society for International Cooperation Agency (GIZ), the Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, the Open Society Foundations and New Venture Fund (NVF).

20Nov

Introducing “Community Fakes”, A Crowdsourcing Platform to Combat AI-Generated Deepfakes

Author CIPESA Posted on

ADRF Grantee Update | 

As the world enters the era of artificial intelligence, the rise of deepfakes and AI-generated media presents significant threats to the integrity of democratic processes, particularly in fragile democracies. These processes are vital for ensuring fairness, accountability, and citizen engagement. 

When compromised, the foundational values of democracy—and society’s trust in its leaders and institutions—are at risk. Safeguarding democracy in the AI era requires vigilance, collaboration, and innovative solutions, such as building a database of verified AI manipulations to protect the truth and uphold free societies.

In the Global South, where political stability is often tenuous, the stakes are even higher. Elections can easily be influenced by mis/disinformation, now accessible at minimal cost and requiring little technical skill. Malicious actors can easily use these tools to create and amplify false content at scale. This risk is amplified in authoritarian regimes, where AI-generated mis/disinformation is increasingly weaponised to manipulate public opinion, undermine elections, or silence dissent. From fabricated videos of political figures to manipulated media, such regimes exploit advanced technologies to sow confusion and mistrust, further destabilising already fragile democracies.

Despite ongoing efforts by social media platforms and AI companies to develop detection tools, these solutions remain inadequate, particularly in culturally and linguistically diverse regions like the Global South. Detection algorithms often rely on patterns trained on Western datasets, which fail to account for local cultural cues, dialects, and subtleties. This gap allows deepfake creators to exploit these nuances, leaving communities vulnerable to disinformation, especially during critical events like elections.

Recognising the urgency of addressing these challenges, Threats developed Community Fakes, an incident database and central repository for researchers to submit, share, and analyse deepfakes and other AI-altered media. This platform enables collaboration, combining human insights with AI tools to create a robust defence against disinformation. By empowering users to identify, upload, and discuss suspect content, Community Fakes offers a comprehensive, adaptable approach to protecting the integrity of information.

The initiative was made possible through the CIPESA-run African Digital Rights Fund (ADRF), which supports innovative interventions to advance digital rights across Africa. The grant to Thraets for the project titled “Safeguarding African Elections—Mitigating the Risk of AI-Generated Mis/Disinformation to Preserve Democracy” aims to counter the increasing risks posed by AI-generated disinformation, which could jeopardise free and fair elections. 

The project has conducted research on elections in Tunisia and Ghana, with the findings feeding into tutorials for journalists and fact-checkers on identifying and countering AI-generated electoral disinformation and awareness campaigns on the need for transparency on the capabilities of AI tools and their risks to democracy. 

Additionally, the project held an Ideathon to generate novel ideas for combating AI-generated disinformation and developed the Spot the Fakes quiz, which gives users the opportunity to dive into the world of AI-generated synthetic media and how to distinguish between the authentic and the fake.

Community Fakes will crowdsource human intelligence to complement AI-based detection, thereby allowing users to leverage their unique insights to spot inconsistencies in AI-generated media that machines may overlook, while having conversations with other experts around the observed patterns. Users can submit suspected deepfakes to the platform, which the global community can then scrutinise, verify, and expose. According to Thraets, this approach ensures that even the most convincing deepfakes can be exposed before they can do irreparable harm. 

Find a full outline of Community Fakes here.

The-Africa-Digital-Rights-Fund
26Nov

Safeguarding Digital Rights in Africa’s Growing Digital Economy

Author CIPESA Posted on

By Loyce Kyogabirwe |

Increased digitalisation and adoption of technology in Africa has fuelled the continent’s economy, with commerce and transactions increasingly being conducted online. Innovation and use of web and mobile applications have also encouraged the growth of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, which has advanced financial inclusion and employment, and made the technology sector a key contributor to African countries’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For instance, platforms such as Jumia which is operational in 11 African countries have transformed the retail, travel and food markets. Other notable online platforms include Appruve and Esoko (Ghana), mFarm (Kenya) and Novus Agro (Nigeria).

African governments have prioritised the integration of technology into more sectors to drive social and economic transformation. However, the rapid adoption of technology tools and platforms has also been met with growing concerns about the impact on digital rights, including data protection and privacy, the digital divide, freedom of expression and surveillance. Other worrying trends include network disruptions, digital taxation, data localisation requirements, and encryption regulations. There is a growing consensus among digital rights advocates that the adoption of technology tools and policies impacting the digital space should not only advance economic inclusion, but also be carefully assessed and implemented in a way that respects human rights in the digital age. 

According to a GSMA report, in 2020, “mobile technologies and services generated more than USD 130 billion of economic value” while USD 155 billion is projected to be generated by 2025. The report further says that “495 million people subscribed to mobile services in Sub-Saharan Africa” by the end of 2020, representing 46% of the region’s population, and this is expected to increase to around 615 million subscribers by 2025, reaching the mark of 50% of Africa’s population.

In an effort to advance digital rights across Africa’s growing digital economy, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) through the Africa Digital Rights Fund (ADRF) has worked to support advocacy initiatives, skills development, and movement building to effectively influence policy and practice on digital rights and the digital economy. Efforts by the ADRF grantees have engaged with state and non-state actors, providing replicable insights into how governments and the private sector in the region can safeguard digital rights while advancing the digital economy. 

In Ghana, the Financial Inclusion Forum Africa developed a Data Protection and Privacy Policy to serve as an internal guide on how digital financial service providers in the country should collect, store, and process individuals’ data. The policy outlines principles on the management of personal data in compliance with Ghana’s Data Protection Act 2012 and the International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission Standards for Information Security Management – ISO 27001:2013. The policy benefited from reviews and input from leading digital financial service providers such as Appruve, Jumo, Vodaphone Cash, and G Money, alongside industry experts and regulators such as the eCrime Bureau, RegTheory, and CUTS (Consumer Unit and Trust Society) Ghana. This provided insights into the policy’s viability and applicability by tapping on real-life experiences of these service providers. 

Similarly, the Centre for International Trade, Economics and Environment (CUTS) and Mzalendo Trust have worked to advance consumer protection, security and inclusion, and public awareness within the digital economy in Kenya. The two Kenya-based grantees engaged with stakeholders such as the Capital Markets Authority, Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet), Association of Freelance Journalists, Open Institute, The Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT) at Strathmore University, Article 19, County Assemblies Forum, Internews, and the Election Observation Group (ELOG).

In Mozambique, efforts by the Mozambican Disabled Persons’ Organisation Forum (FAMOD) under ADRF focused on accessibility and compliance assessments of online services, including for employment, telecommunications, and revenue collection. These assessments helped identify key areas where advocacy campaigns for digital inclusion of persons with disabilities would be most impactful. Meanwhile, in an effort to promote women’s safety and participation online in Namibia, the local chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC) conducted policy engagements on the protection of women and girls as part of the Data Protection Bill. 

In Somalia, the work of Digital Shelter made significant breakthroughs in stakeholder dialogue and engagement on aspects of digitalisation that previously have not been prioritised or discussed regularly. Engagements, including in partnership with the Institute of Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship (IITE), the ICT and e-Governance Department in Ministry Communications and Technology, the private sector and activists, have focused on youth skilling, digital empowerment, data protection and privacy, and an open and inclusive internet. 

Finally, ADRF grantee, Alt Advisory, recently published research on a rights-based assessment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in South Africa. The research involved inputs from 14 leading companies in the country’s financial services, retail and e-commerce sectors and two government bodies – the Home Affairs Department and the Department of Health. The findings of the study indicated human rights gaps in AI profiling and the need to bolster compliance with rights guarantees under relevant laws and policies and enforcement by the country’s data protection watchdog, the Information Regulator, and other regulatory bodies.

The ADRF grantees’ interventions in Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, and South Africa highlight the value of evidence-based advocacy that informs multi-stakeholder deliberations on the digital economy and digital rights. Together with the work of the broader ADRF cohort, it presents key lessons on digitalisation in Africa and the need for operationalisation of supporting frameworks such as for cyber security, data protection and privacy; increased participation of minority and marginalised groups in the design of initiatives; multi-stakeholder collaboration; harmonisation of national and local government plans; and digital literacy skills building. To learn more about the ADRF programme, please visit https://cipesa.org/the-africa-digital-rights-fund-english/. 

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