Non-profit Initiative
Celebrate Public Domain Day 2025 with Free Knowledge Africa! Discover newly available works from literature, music, and photography, including iconic Nigerian treasures. Learn how these cultural gems inspire creativity, education, and preservation.
As the year draws to a close, we take a moment to reflect on an extraordinary journey of collaboration, growth, and impact. At Free Knowledge Africa, we believe that open access to knowledge is not just a principle—it’s a catalyst for transformation. Together, we’ve made significant steps in bridging information gaps, preserving cultural heritage, and …
How to participate in the African Anti-Corruption Day Campaign. Record a one minute video on the topic: The Role of Knowledge in Combating Corruption. Tag FKA on Instagram, Twitter and Threads. Twitter: @freeknowafrica Instagram: @freeknowledgeafrica Threads: @freeknowledgeafrica Use the hastag #freeknowledgeafrica #africananticorruptionday Make sure you are following FKA on IG and Twitter. Winners will be …
With support from the WikiCred initiative, the Africa Open Biodiversity project is intended to promote the documentation of African biodiversity on Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. The campaign aims to advocate and support current biodiversity conservation efforts while bridging the knowledge gap about African content on Wikimedia projects. Biodiversity loss is a global …
The public domain consists of all the creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. The public owns these works, not an individual author or artist. Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it. to which no …
The Celtic Knot Lagos Satellite Event held on Saturday, 12th February, was a resounding success, with many indigenous language enthusiasts in attendance. The event, which was held at Cr8tive Workspaces in Surulere, Lagos, brought together a community of like-minded individuals who are dedicated to making knowledge accessible to all. There were five speakers at the …
There are thousands of sports and games played across Africa that the world doesn’t know about. There are a myriad of games that are indigenous to Africa, originated from Africa, played by Africans and we intend to bring these games to the open. The African games and sports writing contest (Afrosports) for short, is aimed …
Language is one of the most beautiful and important aspects of every culture. It provides people with a unique ability to communicate with one another. This will build relationships and create a sense of community, togetherness, and oneness. Many Nigerian languages have these uniqueness in their pronunciations, spellings and intonations. Cause for concern It has …
It’s the end of the year and for us at Free Knowledge Africa it’s been an exciting one. We had a lot of things planned out for the year and we are glad that we accomplished them. If you missed it, then this blog post is for you. Here are the things we did at …
Africa is a beautiful continent with great people. It offers countless destinations worth exploring for people who are travel enthusiasts. With over 1.2 billion people, Africa is the second most populous continent. However, there is little information detailing the travel destinations. The Explore Africa Campaign aims to bridge the content gap that currently exists with …
Free Knowledge Africa, a non-profit organization dedicated to bridging content gaps on travel, places, settlements, landmarks, heritage, and tourist sites towards sharing and contributing to global knowledge, carried out an advocacy campaign for Open GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) across different Cultural Heritage Institutions within Plateau State. Four members of the team travelled down …
Free Knowledge Africa paid a visit to Plateau State in North Central Nigeria as part of its awareness advocacy campaign on the importance of documenting cultural heritage. The team visited the Tarok tribe to document the oral history of the tribe. The Tarok tribe in Plateau State are predominantly located in Gunnung Village, Pilgani, in …
Free Knowledge Africa is pleased to announce the advisory board. The advisory board is made up of the following members: Carlos Iglesias, Larissa Borck, Susanna Ånäs, Douglas McCarthy and Sam Oyeyele. Carlos Iglesias is a Senior Research Manager at the World Wide Web Foundation.Carlos is an active participant at several global communities related to Open …
The public domain consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Public Domain Day is an observance of when copyrights expire and works enter into the public domain. This legal transition of copyright works into the public domain usually happens every year on 1st January based …
Nigerian music has evolved over the years. From the days of Bobby Benson to contemporary Nigerian artists, music has been a constant factor propelling a lot of creatives in the entertainment industry. Lou Rawls once said “Music is the greatest communication in the world. Even if people do not understand the language, they still know …
The year 2025 began with the fresh streams of Joy as Free Knowledge Africa, in partnership with the Kwara State Branch of the National Library of Nigeria, hosted an advocacy event themed “The Public Domain in Nigeria: The Role of Libraries in the Preservation of Culture.” The event took place at the National Library of …
At Free Knowledge Africa (FKA), our mission is to make knowledge freely accessible and ensure Africa’s rich history and cultural heritage remain open to all. We are thrilled to announce our strategic partnership with Archivi.ng, a pioneering platform focused on the digitization and preservation of historical records, including newspapers. Through this collaboration, FKA and Archivi.ng …
Advocacy for Open Access in Nigeria Remember our ongoing Public Domain Advocacy program? On November 26th, 2024, we had a physical advocacy event with the theme ‘Public Domain and Historical Knowledge’. The event was organized by Free Knowledge Africa in collaboration with the FCT Branch of the National Library of Nigeria. It was held at …
Freedom of Panorama – the right to freely capture and share images of public spaces – is a privilege that many take for granted. This right allows individuals to photograph buildings, sculptures, and other public artworks without worrying about copyright implications. Globally, the freedom of panorama is recognised as a valuable aspect of copyright law, …
Free Knowledge Africa joins the Open community in celebrating International Open Access Week, 2024. “Open source is about collaborating; not competing.” – Kelsey Hightower This week is a priceless opportunity to link the worldwide movement for open information sharing. This can be achieved with the development of legislative changes and the significance of social concerns …
“I believe in copyright, within limited precincts, but I also believe in fair use, public domain and especially transformation” David Shields Free Knowledge Africa is no stranger to the public domain as we have carried out a series of campaigns promoting the public domain and emphasizing its importance to the creative world. Our previous Public …
How collaborative initiatives between local communities, educational institutions, and technology developers enhance digital literacy and information fluency across Africa Introduction The digital revolution has impacted many countries throughout the world and transformed every aspect of life, including communication, trade, education, and governance. However, Africa continues to face major gaps in internet access, digital literacy, and …
