We’ve put together a list of opportunities, news, resources, and events that you may be interested in. We would love to hear from you. Should you have and opportunities, news, resources, and events you would like to share with the African civic tech community, please email Nkosinathi Mcetywa at nkosinathi.mcetywa@wits.ac.za

Sources: Photo by Robynne Hu on Unsplash
COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES
Competition: #AfricaFlows Brand Identity Design: 25 June 2023
The Civic Tech Innovation Network (CTIN) and Jamlab Africa are calling on all African art directors, illustrators, 3D designers, animators, motion designers, and graphic designers to participate in this year’s design competition. You are invited to create the brand identity for the CTIF and Jamfest 2023 conference. The winner of the competition will be awarded a R2500 cash prize and the opportunity to work with us on the implementation of the winning design…read more
Deadline: Sunday, 25 June 2023
Submit to nkosinathi@civictech.africa
Open Call: Be part of the Musical Programme at CTIF & Jamfest 2023: 7 July 2023
The Civic Tech Innovation Forum and Jamfest have traditionally celebrated African innovation and recognised the artistic and cultural talents that inspire Africa’s creativity. This year, we continue with this tradition and invite musical artists to send in their applications to be a part of this exciting annual event…read more
Deadline: Friday, 7 July 2023
Submit to nkosinathi@civictech.africa
Cal for Sessions Proposals: The African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF): 7 July 2023
The African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF) invites stakeholders who are passionate about shaping the digital landscape in Africa to organize engaging sessions under the following subthemes: Cybercrime and Online Safety, Cybersecurity, AI & Emerging Technologies, Digital Divides and Inclusion, Human Rights and Freedoms, Data Governance and Trust, and Universal Access and Meaningful Connectivity. They are looking for innovative and insightful workshop proposals, lightning talks, open forums, town halls, launches, award ceremonies, and pre-event activities…read more
Deadline: Friday, 7 July 2023
UNICEF Innovation Fund: 28 July 2023
The UNICEF Venture Fund is looking to make up to US$100K in equity-free investments to provide early-stage (seed) funding to for-profit start-ups developing frontier technology solutions that can positively impact the lives of the world’s most vulnerable children and youth. If your product is registered in one of UNICEF’s programme countries, is a working prototype, has demonstrated results, and is (or could be) open-source licensed, you are encouraged to apply…read more
Deadline: Friday, 28 July 2023
Call for entries: Public Sector Innovations Award Programme: 25 August 2023
The Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) is a South African national government component within the Portfolio of the Minister for the Public Service and Administration, tasked with the mandate of entrenching the culture and practice of innovation in the Public Sector. This is done through various programmes that unearth, recognise and nurture the replication of innovative solutions to improve service delivery. The Executive Director (Acting) of Centre for Public Service Innovation, Ms Lydia Sebokedi in partnership with the Director-General in the Free State Office of the Premier, Mr Kopung Ralikontsane, officially launched the 21st Public Sector Innovation Awards 2023 Programme – Call for Entries 2023 at the Bloem Spa and Conference Hotel Bloemfontein, Free State…read more
Deadline: Friday, 25 August 2023
Pitching the Rest of World Africa desk
Rest of World cover stories that explore the impact of technology on people and institutions outside the Western bubble. Their focus is on local stories with global relevance. Their Africa desk is accepting pitches for news stories and reports on topics of interest across the continent, from Egypt to South Africa, from Nigeria to Kenya. Their news stories range from 600 to 1,000 words, while reports range from 1,000 to 2,000 words. They prioritize on-the-ground reporting that is fresh, timely, and globally relevant. They pay a $500 flat fee for shorter news stories and for $750 for reports, which are typically around 1500 words. They take timely payment seriously, and typically send payments within 15 business days…read more
COMMUNITY NEWS
Grassroots Advocacy Project (GRAP): Linking National and Subnational Budgets to Community Needs
In 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) said that over 133 million Nigerians were living in poverty — having persons with disabilities (PWDs) as the worst hit demographic. In the quest to understand why many Nigerians are living in poverty, there was a discovery of the obvious problems which hamper the effective delivery of the dividends of democracy. The practice of making annual budgets for the government without citizens’ input, poor implementation of public projects, poor accountability and transparency practices, inadequate oversight by the legislature and the inability to bridge the gap between citizens and the government kept youth, children, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and women in poverty, hunger, and economic disadvantages; which justifies Nigeria’s ranking as a country where as many as 4 in 10 citizens live below the national poverty line by the World Bank. These issues steadily lead to the award and execution of projects that remain incomplete, failed, and most times, don’t meet citizens’ needs and community aspirations at the grassroots, in critical sectors such as agriculture, education, health, infrastructures, and environment, etc. Governments over the years had only involved the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) after the budget had been developed…read more
Exploring Artificial Intelligence Technologies for Enhanced Deliberative Democracy
Twenty-four years into Nigeria’s transition to a democratic system of government, concerns persist regarding the extent to which Nigerians can enjoy the benefits of practising this system. Despite apprehensions about the country’s development rate and its impact on the African region, there is a significant optimism that a democratic system of government guarantees freedom of expression and, to a large extent, upholds human rights. This hope has fostered the emergence of innovative approaches to combat democratic issues such as corruption, electoral malpractice, and political exclusion. One of the latest trends aimed at optimising the dividends and positive impact of democracy involves the deployment of advanced technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), to digital solutions that promote anti-corruption measures, citizen participation, and the supremacy of the law…read more
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Growing and Sustaining African Civic Tech: A Playbook Starter
Growing and sustaining civic tech initiatives is an arduous task that presents multiple challenges. Financing and funding civic technology activities take up a significant portion of most organisations’ worry hours. Often, when there are shortages of funds, this is viewed as an organisational failure. But instead of looking at funding and financing as a reflection of innate value, it should rather be viewed as one of the tools that allow us to reach our social impact. It is a strategic tool that should be considered alongside all of an organisation’s other strategies as well. Based on research undertaken at the end of 2022, the report will help you: get a birds eye view of African civic tech, understand key risks and opportunities for funding types and get tips on accessing funding that works for your organisation.
“BYTE BULLIES; A Report on Online Violence Against Women- Politicians in the 2022 Kenya General Election.”
Pollicy released a new comprehensive report titled “BYTE BULLIES; A Report on Online Violence Against Women- Politicians in the 2022 Kenya General Election.” with support from the National Democratic Institute (NDI). The malignant influence of social media, as a ubiquitous and powerful medium of communication in countries all over the world, has brought about a growing era of challenges such as hate speech, online violence, fake news, and other forms of harmful content perpetuated by online bullies hence forth referred to as Byte Bullies. From the physical world to the digital realm, gender-based discrimination persists and thrives through malignant online practices. Kenya is no exception, as online harassment targets both prominent women and everyday social media users. These harmful behaviors are becoming all too common in our online spaces, perpetuated by social, economic, cultural, and political structures that echo through the medium of digital networks…read more.
Information, Opinion, or Rumor? The Role of Twitter During the Post-Electoral Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire
On the African continent, the use of Internet and social media has been growing at an incredible speed in the past decade. Social media have thus been used in an array of instances such as election periods, natural disasters, and political crises. However, previous research on social media has barely taken a look at the use of social media during war. By investigating on the use of Twitter during the post electoral crisis in Côte d’Ivoire in 2010/2011, this study wants to emphasize the potential of social media for the development of democracy in the context of crisis, war, and limited media freedom. Through a content analysis of Twitter and qualitative expert interviews with Ivoirian bloggers, this study found that Twitter was mainly used for political debate and crowdsourcing information. The crisis turning over to a civil war, the network was used in particular by a small group of active citizens and bloggers, operating as technically versed opinion leaders, to provide humanitarian help for the population caught in the crisis…read more
Namola
Namola is a free crime response app that allows users to share their GPS coordinates, name, and nature of the emergency with a 24/7 response call centre. For legitimate alerts, police, other emergency responses, and citizen responders are then dispatched and monitored. With the increasing crimes such as femicide, gender-based violence and kidnapping in South Africa, this often means conventional responding services as police are overburdened or cannot immediately respond to such crimes. Requesting help using the Namola app, the app using a phone’s GPS location is able to inform nearby responders who the victim is and where they are. When requesting assistance through the app, the Namola team immediately sends the request to a local law enforcement and participates in safety initiatives in that particular community so that they can come to the victim’s assistance as quickly as possible…read more
Zlto
Zlto is a platform that uses blockchain technology to increase engagement amongst youth, track positive behaviour via live dashboards and encourage certain behaviour through our innovative rewards systems. The rewards can be redeemed across 3, 000 stores. As a user, you get access to verified information and services. Access to products and services that decreases monthly expenses. Micro work and additional earn opportunities (E.g. Surveys, Gig jobs). Zlto mobile wallet to manage incentives and nano Learning opportunities. As a funder, you are provided access to thousands of users who could use product or service offering. Behavioural nudging through tasks/activities, surveys. Track tasks, challenges, surveys and opportunities. Plug and Play Incentives and customized marketplace. API for easy integration. Zlto provides impact funders with a direct opportunity to fund grassroots impact that reduces the costs of achieving impact at scale. It also allows impact funders to track their social return on investment…read more
COMMUNITY EVENTS
West African Privacy Regional Engagement: 16 June 2023
The West African Privacy Engagement aims to discuss the importance of corporate responsibility and privacy protection in West Africa, and the role of civil society in fostering corporate accountability. The discussion will explore the challenges faced by civil society in holding corporations accountable for their actions and the need for stronger regulation and enforcement of privacy protection laws. The session will be structured as a panel discussion, featuring experts in corporate responsibility, privacy protection, and civil society activism. Each panelist will present their perspectives on the topic, followed by a moderated discussion and Q&A session with the audience…read more
Date: Friday, 16 June 2023
Time: 1pm (CAT)
DataFest Africa, Kampala: 29 June 2023
DataFest Africa is an annual event that ultimately celebrates data science and its ever-evolving impact on the African continent. Since its inception in 2019, the conference has become a melting pot of some of the brightest minds in the region, bringing together stakeholders of diverse backgrounds including; government, civil society, academics, students and private industry experts to connect, learn, and collaborate on innovative data-driven solutions. This year there will be a pre-event in Kampala, Uganda. The theme for this year’s event is “Turning the Data Tables: No gender equality without data equality.”…read more.
Date: Thursday, 29 June 2023
Tayarisha Lunch Box Series with Dr. Kagiso ‘Tk’ Poe: 6 July 2023
The recently released report entitled ‘The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture’, in early 2022, has brought the number of established Commissions of Inquiry (CoIs) in post-1994 South Africa to 12, depending on the definition used. Moreover, post-2011, there has been an exponential increase in the use and establishment of CoIs in South Africa’s political and legal governance environment.
Join Tayarisha Centre for Digital Governance for their next installation of the Tayarisha Lunch Box Series with Dr. Kagiso ‘Tk’ Poe as he presents on “Commission of inquiry: hybrid hollowing out of State governance.”
Date: Thursday, 6 July 2023
Time: 12pm-1pm (CAT)
RSVP with Zibusiso.Manzini-Moyo@wits.ac.za
Digital Dialogue #14: The role of partnerships in strengthening the impact of Civic Tech: 6 July 2023
Civic tech is not technology as a product but should be viewed as a methodology, process and means of engaging different problems. Therefore, there is value in collaborative civic tech processes and outcomes. Working through social and economic problems in a systematic way, and with multiple perspectives, provides a nuanced and realistic viewpoint from which to think of appropriate and effective civic tech solutions. that are context-specific and have the best chance of meaningful impact within communities. This Digital Dialogue will provide an overview of the role of partnerships within the civic tech ecosystems in different contexts. With a focus on the global South, the Dialogue will reflect on case studies in which partnerships helped shape the development and implementation of civic tech projects across different communities and contexts…read more
Date: Thursday, 6 July 2023
Time: 4pm-5pm (CAT)
Registration Link TBA