Supporting African online safety innovation

To build a vibrant African online safety ecosystem requires funding.  However, finding funding can be a complex, time consuming and a difficult process. To address this issue, we have established the Africa Online Safety Fund (AOSF) which supports innovative solutions to the challenges faced when being online. Although not limited in scope, the AOSF prioritises solutions that specifically address the online safety of women and children, recognizing that they are often the most targeted communities in this regard. This funding has been made possible to-date from the generous support of Google.org.

The AOSF has one call per annum for applications, with the next one scheduled for October 2024.  

In addition to the AOSF, this site will promote other funding opportunities for the innovators working to keep us all safe online soon. Learn more about our current and previous grantees and how to apply to the AOSF below.

Previous Awardees

The following are the previous grant awardees.

About our grants

Africa’s internet access has increased dramatically over the last 10 years with over  520 million people, or 40% of the population, now with access to the web. This has opened up many new opportunities for socio-economic development, including the potential for the internet economy to contribute nearly $180 billion to Africa's economy by 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 cyber-attacks.

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

The following are key areas of focus in our efforts to address online safety:

Bullying and Harassment: Actively work towards combating online bullying and harassment, promoting a safe and inclusive digital environment for all users.Financial Scams: Focus on raising awareness about various forms of online financial scams, empowering users to identify and avoid fraudulent activities that could compromise their financial well-being.

Hate Crimes: Raise awareness about and prevent online hate crimes, fostering tolerance and respect in the digital sphere.

Misinformation and Disinformation: Combating the spread of misinformation and disinformation online, promoting critical thinking and media literacy to ensure accurate and reliable information reaches users.

Privacy and Personal Security: Prioritising online privacy and personal security, offering guidance and resources to help individuals safeguard their personal information and protect themselves from online threats.

Terrorist Recruitment and Promotion: Countering online terrorist recruitment and promotion activities, striving to disrupt their online presence and protect vulnerable individuals from radicalisation.

1. Applicants can be public benefit organizations, private or from the public sector. No individual applicants are considered.  

2. The Fund is open to organizations throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

Grants we offer

We provide three grant categories designed to support projects and initiatives at multiple stages of development.

Catalytic grant

The Catalytic projects are intended to be smaller, targeted, and potentially only locally or culturally specific. The Catalytic Grants will be a maximum of $10,000.

Maturing grant

The Maturing projects are intended to test ideas at a larger scale, try new ideas within existing projects, and reach new audiences. The Maturing grant will be up to $25,000.

Transformative grant

The Transformative projects are intended to be larger in scale, reach multiple geographies and or potentially large numbers of beneficiaries, and be scalable as a solution. The Transformative grants will be a maximum of $50,000.