Impact Amplifier’s Africa Online Safety Fund Launches Its Second Phase

Impact Amplifier (IA) has sent out a call for applications for the award of grants under its $1,000,000 Africa Online Safety Fund (AOSF), supported by Google.

The Fund will be awarding grants to organizations throughout Africa, but will be focused on four primary countries, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa, that address one or more of the safety issues the internet facilitates.

Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in internet accessibility in Africa, with more than 520 million people having access to the web. As a result, this has led to the emergence of fresh prospects for socio-economic development, including the potential for the internet economy to contribute approximately $180 billion to Africa’s economy by the year 2025.

However, this rapid growth has also brought new challenges, including privacy and security concerns, bullying and harassment, hate crimes, fake news, political targeting and manipulation, terrorist recruitment and promotion, and financial scams. The COVID-19 pandemic has only made these issues worse, with a 30% increase in cyberattacks.

To address these issues, the Africa Online Safety Fund, with financial support from Google, has been established to finance innovative existing and new solutions to these challenges.

This is the second call for applications for AOSF, the first one having been last year. In the first set of awards, a total of 26 organizations received grants through the programme. The successful applicants in that first cohort came from a wide range of countries – including the Ivory Coast, Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania.

The funding has been divided into three distinct categories: Transformative, Maturing, and Catalytic.

The Transformative projects are designed to be on a larger scale, serving multiple regions, potentially reaching a vast number of beneficiaries, and offering a scalable solution.

The Maturing projects are geared towards experimenting with new ideas on a larger scale, within existing projects, and targeting new audiences. The Catalytic projects are intended to be smaller, more focused, and cater to specific local or cultural needs.

Transformative projects will attract a maximum grant of $50,000, Maturing projects up to $25,000, and Catalytic projects $10,000.

Applications opened on 1 March and will be received until 30 April 2023. The shortlisted applicants will be announced by 31 May and taken through the second stage of the application process. The finalists will be known by 15 July, 2023.

About Impact Amplifier

Impact Amplifier is a social impact-focused accelerator and capital advisory business – blending research, business development services and funding to scale commercially viable social enterprises in Africa.

The organization’s primary areas of focus include fund management, management consulting, research and technology, starting and developing multiple social innovations, deep understanding of social and environmental issues, and measuring impact.

IA operates virtually and in situ; working adaptively and flexibly with ecosystem actors across the African continent, as well as in the United States and Europe.