Africa Law Tech Festival 2021: CIPESA Underscores Strategies to Cutting Through Common Emerging Barriers To Access To Justice Despite the Covid-19 Pandemic

By the Lawyers hub |
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across Africa implemented measures to curb the spread of the virus that greatly disrupted judicial processes, slowing down access to justice. Such measures include suspension of all in- person court activities like mentions, hearings and appeals as well as execution of court judgements. Gradually, courts looked to adopting technological…

CIPESA Supports Impactful Digital Rights Media Advocacy in Africa

By Apolo Kakaire |

Civic space continues to shrink across Africa. In recent years, disruptions to the internet and social media applications have emerged as a common trend of digital repression especially in authoritarian countries in Africa. While the Covid-19 pandemic has reaffirmed the immense importance of digital technologies for government and citizen interactions, public services provision, employment, education and commerce, some governments on the continent used…

Digital Taxation Doing More Harm than Good for Access and Rights in Africa

By Evelyn Lirri |

When Uganda introduced a tax on social media use in 2018, the government hoped the new source of revenue would help widen the country’s tax base. Instead, internet subscriptions fell drastically and the government did not raise the anticipated revenue as most users turned to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to access social media platforms.

Three years later in July 2021, Uganda abandoned…

Overview of Intermediary Liability in Senegal

By Astou Diouf |

Among its west African counterparts, Senegal is among the leaders in digitalisation efforts. Its press freedom rankings are high and the country has also recorded positive strides in data protection. Telecommunications sector players include 2018 entrants ARC Telecom, WAW Telecom and Africa Access, alongside the state-owned Sonatel, Free (initially licensed as SENTEL, later rebranded as Tigo), and…

Promoting Digital Inclusion for Refugees Amid the Covid-19 Crisis in Egypt

By Mohamed Farahat |

The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has dramatically transformed our daily lives, making the virtual world the new reality for many people. However, for many others, including refugees, it has further served to deepen their digital exclusion.

Since the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Egypt in February 2020, the number of confirmed cases, including deaths, has been increasing.…

Telcos in Nigeria and Kenya Should Address Exclusion of Persons With Disabilities

By CIPESA Writer |

In January 2019, after nine years in the making, Nigeria signed into law the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018. In Kenya, a similar framework had been signed into law in 2003. Both laws were aimed at promoting a more inclusive society for persons with disabilities.

Sections 24 and 25 of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities…

Réactions des Télécoms/FAI à la Covid-19 au Sénégal

Par Astou Diouf |

Le Sénégal a enregistré son premier cas de Covid-19 le 2 mars 2020. Trois semaines plus tard, le 23 mars, le pays a déclaré l’état d’urgence et pris diverses mesures pour freiner la propagation du virus. En réponse à la pandémie, l’Autorité de Régulation des Télécommunications et des Postes (ARTP) a apporté une contribution financière de 117…

The Erosion of Digital Rights in the Fight Against Covid-19 in Kenya

By Victor Kapiyo |

Kenya confirmed its first coronavirus (Covid-19) case on March 12, 2020, and as of August 26, 2020, the country had recorded at least 559 deaths, 32,803 confirmed cases, and 19,055 recoveries, with 429,513 persons tested.

Even before the first case was confirmed in Kenya in February 2020, the government had moved to establish the National Emergency Response Committee on Covid-19…

Joint CSO Letter to United Nations and African Commission Special Rapporteurs on the arrest and detention of Tanzanian Human Rights Defender Tito Elia Magoti

Letter |

The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has joined 27 other organisations in submitting a public letter to the United Nations and African Commission Special Rapporteurs in the case of  the arrest of Tanzanian  human rights defender Tito Magoti.

The joint letter request that the respective offices urgently intervene in the cases of human rights defenders and…

Governments and Donors Urged to Advance ICT Access for Persons with Disabilities

By CIPESA Writer |

While advances in Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) including the Internet have created avenues of inclusion, for some, especially persons with disabilities, it has also widened the extent to which they are excluded from the social and economic potential of the digital society.

Persons with disabilities are more likely to experience adverse socio-economic outcomes than persons without disabilities,…