This initiative was started because over 500 million people have access to the internet in Africa; and although this reflects just under 40% of the population, this level of penetration is 110 times what it was just 20 years ago. Not only has internet access increased dramatically, but so has smartphone usage, with ownership now at 250 million people - which is expected to almost double to about 475 million by 2025. This exponential increase and expected growth has created extraordinary new opportunities for African socio-economic development. However, this rapid growth rate has simultaneously created a range of safety concerns, including: 1) Bullying and harassment; 2) Hate crimes; 3) Terrorist recruitment and promotion; 4) Mis or disinformation; 5) Privacy and personal security and; 6) Financial scams.
The Africa Online Safety Fund (AOSF) is an initiative of Impact Amplifier that aims to address the pressing and widespread issue of online safety in Africa. The AOSF was launched in 2020 with support from Google.org and has now received a second round of funding to continue the initiative.
In Phase one, the Africa Online Safety Fund included: 1) Funding 26 organisations spread across nine African countries. Several grantees initiated projects outside of their national borders, taking the total reach of the AOSF to 20 countries; 2) 14 million Africans were reached through research regarding the hazards of engaging online, access to educational programme tools or platforms, direct virtual and in-person trainings, and traditional and digital media campaigns; 3) Training 63,000 people, including 32,000 children between the ages of 6 and 18, 9,000 teachers of children within this age group, and 23,000 adults and; 4)Training 5,000 trainers, who then went on to train other teachers, parents and children.
Google.org is supporting Impact Amplifier to expand the initiative to address these challenges on an ecosystem level. The second phase of the AOSF includes four core components: 1) Commissioning new research on online safety issues in Africa and aggregating research that has already been conducted and publicly disclosed; 2) Developing new online safety education tools specifically for African markets; 3) Funding new and existing online safety interventions in regions that reflect large populations to prevent extremist recruitment, bullying and harassment, hate crimes, mis or disinformation, privacy, and financial scams and; 4) Building a digital community of online safety practitioners that facilitates collaboration, networking, good practice, educational tools and funding opportunities.
Impact Amplifier has announced a new cohort of 22 winning organisations, who will receive grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. The winning projects encompass solutions that include combating misinformation and disinformation, establishing investigative teams to track cybercriminals, supporting journalists facing hate speech and cyberbullying, integrating online safety training into school curriculums, and much more. Their solutions span 15 African countries. See the winners >
Client:
SAIS
Locations:
South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malawi, Botswana
Date:
2019 – December 2022
Client:
Nando's
Locations:
South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, USA, Australia, New Zealand
Date:
2012 - Present
Client:
The World Bank & YES (Youth Employment Service)
Locations:
South Africa
Date:
September 2020 – September 2023
Client:
SAB Foundation
Locations:
South Africa
Date:
2018 - Present
Client:
PFAN
Locations:
Benin, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Senegal, Togo
Date:
March 2022 – August 2023