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. …
If you’ve ever searched for Nigerian history online, tried to find photographs of 1900s Lagos, or looked for primary sources about African independence movements, you’ve probably noticed something. There’s just not much knowledge there. It’s not that African knowledge doesn’t exist. Our libraries hold centuries of newspapers and archival materials. We have archives that preserve …
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 …
Public Domain Day, celebrated on January 1st of every calendar year, marks the moment when works that were once copyrighted become free to be used and reused by all. In celebration of this year’s Public Domain Day, we published this blog post highlighting films, albums, and movies released in 1976 that will enter the public …
Every year, as the calendar turns to January 1st, something remarkable happens in the world of creativity and culture. It is a moment when the doors of history swing open, and works that were once locked behind copyright protections step into the light, free for all to enjoy, remix, and reimagine. It’s a celebration of …
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 …
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 …
