The Africa Online Safety Fund (AOSF), an initiative supported by Google.org, has announced the winners of this year’s grants. Among the recipients are six organisations operating in Nigeria: Access Drive Capacity Development Foundation, Epower, Lagos Mums Foundation, TechSocietal, Teens Can Code, and Zikoko Citizen.

The selection of the 22 winning organisations from seven countries was announced by Impact Amplifier (IA) from its headquarters in Cape Town, South Africa. Nigeria led the count with the highest number of awards, followed by five to South Africa and four each to Ghana and Kenya. Cameroon, Somalia, and Zimbabwe each had one winner.

These organisations, while representing seven countries, will implement internet safety interventions across 15 African countries in total. Just over 350 applications were received in the 2023 cohort, from which a shortlist of 40 entries made it for the final selection process.

Each of the eventual winners will receive grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.

Making the announcement, Impact Amplifier Director, Tanner Methvin said, “With over 500 million people having access to the internet in Africa, reflecting just under 40 per cent of the continent’s population, online safety issues are of critical concern.”

The AOSF, Methvin said, supports innovative approaches to addressing the complex safety issues the internet presents.  “The winning innovative solutions range from unique ways of combating mis and disinformation, establishing investigative teams to track cyber criminals, supporting journalists targeted with hate speech and bullying, integrating online safety training into school curriculums, and much more.”

The AOSF offers grants to organisations throughout Africa that address one or more of the safety issues the internet facilitates. It is however focused on four primary countries: Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa in this funding round.

There are three categories of funding: Transformative, Maturing and Catalytic. Transformative projects are intended to be larger in scale, reach multiple geographies and/ or potentially large numbers of beneficiaries, and be scalable as a solution. The Maturing projects are intended to test ideas at a larger scale, try new ideas within existing projects, and reach new audiences. The Catalytic projects are intended to be smaller, targeted, and potentially only locally or culturally specific.

Transformative projects are a maximum grant of $50,000, Maturing projects up to $25,000, and Catalytic projects $10,000.

In addition to announcing the winners of the AOSF awards, Impact Amplifier, again with the support from Google.org, is developing the first Africa focused online safety research, education and support platform.  Funding solutions to online safety since 2021, Impact Amplifier has realized that the only way to combat the scale of this challenge is by creating an ecosystem approach.  Part of developing this ecosystem involves centralising some of the key tools needed for support.  To this end it is developing an online platform, which aggregates all the research which has been done regarding online safety in Africa, making this key knowledge available to policy makers, civil society, academics, business and the general public.   Additionally, the platform will be hosting education materials to teach children and adults alike how to protect themselves online.  This content will include curriculum, testing materials, evaluation tools, and general awareness content, enabling anyone interested in learning how to protect themselves or others with easy access to all the content they need.  Finally, despite our best protection efforts, online violations occur.  Once someone has been the victim of an online crime or violation getting help is hard to navigate.  To address this, the platform will centralise all the ways that people can seek support no matter where they are in Africa.     This new platform will be launched in February 2024.

ABOUT THE NIGERIAN WINNERS:

The Access Drive Capacity Development Foundation (ACDF)  https://accessdrive.org moulds leaders, promotes digital citizenship, and prepares students for a tech-driven future through immersive experiences, industry partnerships, and a focus on comprehensive capacity development, fostering problem solvers and innovators for Africa’s economic growth. The Foundation’s Digital Safety First project tackles the problem of early school dropouts by offering comprehensive online safety education for re-enrolled students in economically disadvantaged public secondary schools in Lagos, Nigeria. It focuses on children, parents, and teachers, with the establishment of DSF Clubs to ensure ongoing learning and peer mentoring, and training of parents and teachers with the necessary skills to guide and support students in their online experiences.

Epower  www.epower.ng  is a technology and digital education organization by Comcast Plus that is focused on promoting safe and responsible internet use, notably among younger generations, through the innovative Cyber Hygiene App. The app is complemented by physical and virtual training, policy collaboration, and the establishment of cyber hygiene clubs to foster a culture of cyber safety within schools. Epower’s Cyber Hygiene App is an innovative, multifaceted solution addressing cyberbullying and unsafe digital behaviour by providing education, awareness, and action. It offers specialized content for students, parents, and teachers.

Lagos Mums Foundation   https://lagosmums.com/ offers parenting and family life resources, education, and support to help parents, caregivers, and educators in Africa raise children who are successful digital citizens in the 21st century, with a focus on online safety. The Lagos Mum Foundation will develop a culturally relevant Online Safety for Successful Digital Citizens program to provide accessible online safety training for Nigerian parents, youth, and teachers, addressing the lack of sustained awareness of online safety issues. This initiative aims to empower families with training to prevent cybercrimes, cyberbullying, and mis/disinformation, reducing the risks faced by children online.

TechSocietal (Aspire Youth Development Center)   https://techsocietal.org/ reduces digital inequalities and empowers digital access, especially for vulnerable groups like women and underserved youth, through capacity building, network building, advisory services, and advocacy to promote online safety, digital rights, and gender equality. These efforts allow them to bridge the digital divide and address broader socio-economic inequalities among Nigerian youth. TechSocietal is planning to establish a ‘Community of Practice for Online Safety’. The aim of this platform is to foster nationwide stakeholder collaboration, knowledge sharing, and skill-building to enhance online safety for women and children.

Teens Can Code  https://teenscancode.com.ng/ expands technology education and opportunities for young Nigerians aged 9-23, integrating STEAM into the educational curriculum while supporting educators and students, with a focus on play and fun in their programs. Teens Can Code’s Virtually Safe Initiative will employ a holistic approach to enhance internet safety for young. It includes organizing hackathons, creating internet safety clubs in schools, hosting conferences, distributing educational materials, conducting research on online safety, addressing online gambling issues, advocating for policy changes, and sharing recommendations with stakeholders.

Zikoko Citizen  https://www.zikoko.com/category/citizen/is a web and social media-based platform that simplifies politics, policy, and governance for young Nigerians, providing honest and trustworthy news analysis and encouraging informed action. Its Citizen Situation Room on WhatsApp actively combats fake news and misinformation by leveraging the widespread use of WhatsApp in Nigeria, reaching a broad audience quickly. This model also utilizes open-source intelligence to address local issues faster and encourages community fact-checking through trained members, ensuring timely and accurate information dissemination.