[originally posted by CIPESA] Disinformation on social media has been a growing concern in global politics for several years, and it is now exploding across Sub-Saharan Africa, where social media-based disinformation campaigns are increasingly being deployed by foreign entities and governments  to influence narratives. Several socio-political and economic factors provide fertile ground […]

[originally posted on CIPESA] In an increasingly digitised world, safeguarding data rights has become central to protecting individuals’ rights to access and share information, express themselves, and associate using the internet and related platforms. Advances in technology, alongside growth in mobile subscriptions and increased use of smartphones have pushed individuals […]

[cross-posted from CIPESA here.] At the onset of the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the prognosis for how Africa would manage the  pandemic was bleak. Many (mostly western-based) epidemiologists anticipated that the pandemic would kill millions of Africans. Researchers at the Imperial College London put the number of estimated deaths at three million as […]

‘White fronting’—is a strategy used by Black, African digital entrepreneurs to improve their odds of attracting financial investment. They hire a white CEO or partner with a white colleague who acts as the ‘face’ of the company. A common response from other researchers to the idea of white fronting as […]

Many commentators highlighted the potential for voters to be empowered by the growth of mobile telecommunications across the African continent. However, this initial enthusiasm has somewhat waned as accounts of targeted messaging during elections have become common, particularly as the content of these messages has often been misleading, out-right false, […]

Digital IDs are representation of a person in digital form.  African countries are rolling out digital ID systems that not only identify people as citizens or residents of a country but are also required to access government services. As was discussed during this workshop, market philosophies have influenced digital ID […]

In East Africa particularly, the digital financial services industry has grown exponentially and so has the volume of digital data collected by players. Digital financial services have also brought about greater financial inclusion. However, this has fueled concerns about the processing, storage and use of data collected. Concerns ranging from […]

Behind the apparent invisible workings of the digital economy is human labour, who perform a variety of tasks involving manipulating digital data. We call this digital labour, which can be performed by workers both at the firm-level and at the individual levels through digital labour platforms. Driverless cars, search engines, […]