Leading pan-African organisation, Paradigm Initiative (PIN) has won landmark data cases and impacted the lives of hundreds of youth across Africa over the last one year in an effort to shape the continent’s digital future. The organisation’s Annual Impact Report presents these and other highlights key achievements realised across the continent and beyond, showcasing transformed livelihoods, enhanced capacities, strengthened policies, intensified advocacy efforts, strategic litigation, research and knowledge, among others.
The report indicates that in 2024, the organisation’s flagship programme, LIFE Legacy, expanded to include 11 countries namely; Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, South Sudan, Liberia, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. So far, 25 training cohorts have been successfully completed, impacting the lives of 707 young individuals.
In Senegal, the organisation provided 60 laptops to three implementing partners, strengthening their capacity to deliver digital inclusion programming. At the same time, PIN also launched the LIFE@School programme in Cameroon and Tanzania, delivering foundational digital literacy education to young learners within school settings.
Besides empowering young Africans, PIN also undertook strategic litigation supporting 29 ongoing legal cases across Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. One of the landmark judgments PIN was able to secure is in the case of Molehin v. United Bank for Africa (UBA). The bank was found liable for unilaterally opening a domiciliary account for Miss Folashade Molehin without her consent, breaching her right to data privacy.
The 2024 report highlights the organisation’s impactful research initiatives and knowledge products, which are contributing towards strengthening digital rights policy and practice across Africa while influencing public debates and discussions. A major achievement was the publication of the organisation’s Londa report, which assesses the state of digital rights and inclusion across 26 African countries. In 2024, the report received 8,457 downloads. In addition to this, PIN also launched its 4th Short Film, Undersight, which has a viewership of 994,000 views on YouTube.
Paradigm Initiative also published an Artificial Intelligence report developed with the support from TrustLaw. The report examines soft law approaches and the status of national AI strategies in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Zambia and Mauritius, providing a comparative view of the region’s AI landscape. The organisation also collaborated with the Centre for Democratic Technology (CDT) on a study on Content Moderation Policies for Kiswahili, focusing on how big tech platforms moderate content in under-resourced languages such as Kiswahili in Kenya and Tanzania.
Another report was one on the State of Deployment of Surveillance Technologies in Africa, which critically analysed the growing digital repression facilitated by spyware and surveillance technologies. The report drew the attention of stakeholders across sectors and was also used in direct advocacy with a telecommunications company, further validating its relevance and influence.
According to the impact report, PIN influenced the adoption of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Resolution 580 on Internet shutdowns and elections. The resolution calls on African states to refrain from Internet shutdowns during elections, promoting open access to information and freedom of expression.
The organisation also convened the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF) in Accra, Ghana, which attracted the registration of 1,004 delegates from 61 countries globally, providing an opportunity to the civil society, government, media, academia, the private sector, and grassroot communities to engage in conversations and shape collective action. The strategic communication and storytelling efforts resulted in significant visibility with a consolidated media reach of 1.43 billion and a social media reach of 8.8 million.
In addition to the above, Paradigm Initiative conducted youth-focused campaigns aimed at inspiring creativity, driving innovation and increasing participation in digital rights and inclusion work. The organisation also hosted seven outstanding fellows under the Digital Rights and Inclusion Learning Lab (DRILL) fellowship.
In 2024, PIN was honoured with the maiden PrivCon Privacy Award in Nigeria for its outstanding privacy and data protection contributions. The organisation was feted for connecting African youth with digital opportunities, winning the Social Innovation Category award at the Nigeria Innovation Awards hosted by the Nigeria Innovation Summit.
A comprehensive copy of the report can be accessed here
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