Access to Knowledge Without Barriers
Lessons from Free Knowledge Africa’s Digitisation Projects The dream of universal open access is a dream worth holding onto. But in the day-to-day work of making knowledge free and accessible, perfectionism can become an obstacle of its own. Not every Institution is ready to throw open every door at once, and that’s okay. Start where …
In 2011, Nigeria passed into law the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. The law gave every Nigerian citizen regardless of education, status, or connection the legal right to demand information from any public institution. This includes government contracts, spending records, policy documents, meeting minutes. All of it, in principle, is accessible to anyone who asked. …
Nigeria has a rich and complex history deserving to be told by Nigerians, for Nigerians, and shared with the world. However, too often, we see our historical materials: documents, photographs, books, and newspapers that perfectly and accurately capture our past, hidden and locked away in archives, making them inaccessible to the very people whose stories …
In cities like Helsinki, residents can access dozens of well-funded public libraries within a short commute. In contrast, Lagos, a city of over 15 million people, has only a handful of functioning public libraries. The disparity is sharper in rural Nigeria and across sub-Saharan Africa, where entire local government areas may have no library at …
FKA 2025 Impact Every year begins quietly. But for Free Knowledge Africa, January 1st is never just another day. It is Public Domain Day, a reminder that knowledge, once protected by time, returns to the people it belongs to. And so, we began 2025 exactly where our work is rooted: the Public Domain. Where the …
The public domain is a collective inheritance. It is where knowledge, songs, stories, and art live freely — not bound by ownership, but by memory. Listening to the speakers at the Public Domain Conference, I realised that this freedom is what oral storytelling has always represented for African societies. Long before we learned to write, …
I got to know about Free Knowledge Africa for the first time this year, and the experience has been nothing short of transformative. I gained so much from the opportunities they provided, and each one helped me understand open knowledge in ways I never imagined. Stay with me as I walk you through how these …
As an undergraduate who believes so much in holistic development beyond academics, to the point of going the extra mile to create a community for that cause, I spend a lot of my online-time looking out for chances that I can take to achieve this aim of being an all-round developed person. From trainings to …
In an era where information is the new currency, the accessibility of a nation’s history determines its future. The Public Domain Conference 2025 recently convened a powerful assembly of librarians, legal experts, historians, and creatives with a singular, unifying mission: to explore how Nigeria can democratize access to its vast cultural and educational resources. Hosted …
Free Knowledge Africa is proud to announce that we have signed the Open Heritage Statement, a global call to action launched by Creative Commons and the TAROCH Coalition (Towards a Recommendation on Open Cultural Heritage). This statement is now open for signature by governments, organizations, and institutions worldwide. This statement, developed by more than 60 …
