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Sub-Saharan Africa Program

ICNL promotes an enabling legal environment for civil society in Africa. We work with partners across the continent to advance freedoms of association, assembly, and expression; encourage public participation and philanthropy; and support civil society when its rights and activities are threatened.

We are privileged to collaborate with civil society leaders, activists, government officials, lawyers, media workers, and academics in 26 countries across Africa. Working together, we amplify the impact of partners through technical assistance, research and learning. With these partners, we have helped develop progressive national, regional and global norms that expand civic space throughout the region.

Be sure to browse our Focus Areas, Country Overviews, and Key Resources.

Our Impact in the Region

2024 in Numbers

Countries where we worked:

26 Partners that received ICNL assistance:

2,986

ICNL knowledge products produced and disseminated:

121

Bolstering Data Protection in Africa

In Tanzania, our partner JamiiForums drafted a model bill on data protection with technical assistance from ICNL. That bill served as the basis for Tanzania’s first ever data protection law, passed in May 2023.

Building a Better Digital Future

Since 2020, at least 15 countries in Africa have introduced or enacted legislation restricting civic freedoms online. To build civil society’s capacity to push back, ICNL and its partner CIPESA helped create Digital Rights Alliance Africa, which brings together experts to champion digital civic space.

Recent Highlights

What We Do

Members of the Africa Digital Rights Hub, hosted by ICNL and CIPESA.

Creating environments where civil society can flourish

ICNL helps partners create legal frameworks that protect the freedoms of association, peaceful assembly, and expression. We work with civil society and governments alike.

Our contributions include tracking and analyzing legislation across the continent, supporting stakeholder convenings and learning initiatives, and producing tools to aid legal implementation, compliance, and policy advocacy.

A hand holding a mobile phone with a laptop in the background

Enhancing digital inclusion and internet freedoms

Civic space is just as important online as it is in the physical world. We work with civil society, governments and other stakeholders to ensure that the regulation and use of digital technologies respects and protects civic freedoms.

Our recent efforts in this area have included working with partners to improve a new data protection law in Malawi and convening a national forum on digital rights in Kenya.

Countering the ‘securitization’ of civic space

States have a legitimate interest in fighting terrorism and money laundering, but their efforts should not degrade civic freedoms. ICNL works with civil society, governments, and multilateral entities such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to shape effective standards that do not over-regulate the non-profit sector.

Read how partners from ICNL’s Africa FATF Hubs contributed to positive revisions of FATF’s standards for the regulation of non-profit organizations.

A person raises their hand in a crowd (Caftos/Unsplash)

Strengthening public participation

Meaningful participation in decision-making processes is a crucial component of civic space. ICNL supports its partners in advocating for laws and policies that ensure accessible and inclusive public participation.

After years of investment by ICNL and its partners in Kenya, for example, the Kisumu County government recently adopted a new public participation policy that greatly enhances county engagement and information-sharing with local communities.

Meeting at the African Commission on Human & Peoples' Rights

Promoting civic space at the regional and international levels

Robust civic space protections at the international level create an incentive for national governments to do the same. We work with regional and global institutions to develop progressive legal norms while promoting domestic compliance and accountability.

In 2024, our consultation on election-related challenges in Africa informed a the work of UN Special Rapporteurs and led to an increased focus on elections and civic space at the ACHPR.

Sharing knowledge

ICNL conducts innovative research on the laws and trends shaping civic space on the African continent. We also collaborate with local partners from a range of sectors to produce context-specific knowledge products. This research informs policy discussions and supports the development of practical approaches to address issues facing civil society.

See the Key Resources section below for some of our recent research.

Key Resources

ACHPR Checklists for Law Reform Advocates

These two checklists help can help people use the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Guidelines on Freedom of Association and Assembly in Africa. They provide a simple way to monitor State compliance and identify where issues might arise. A great tool for States to illustrate actions they have taken and for civil society to use in shadow reporting and advocacy.

Explore further

Freedom of Expression Handbook for Lawmakers and Law Reform Advocates

This handbook helps lawmakers and law reform advocates assess whether national laws comply with international legal standards on the right to the freedom of expression. It features an easy-to-use checklist format, asking users a series of questions and directing them to best practices according to their answers.

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Strengthening an Enabling Environment for Community Philanthropy in East Africa

The 2022 study by the East Africa Philanthropy Network surveys the landscape for philanthropy in Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. It seeks to examine models which are working, identify opportunities to grow local resource mobilization, and identify gaps that limit local resource mobilization. Published with the support of ICNL.

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Global Grantmaking Country Notes

In partnership with the Council on Foundations, ICNL documents developments in thirty-four countries to help U.S grantmakers undertake equivalency determinations for foreign grantees. In Sub-Saharan Africa, reports are available for Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda.

Visit the Council on Foundations' Site for All Country Notes

Civic Freedom Monitor

The Civic Freedom Monitor provides up-to-date information on civil society law in more than fifty countries and eight multilateral organizations. In Africa, we track developments in the DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.