Dear Reader,
We are more than excited to reconnect with you after a brief break. The end-of-year season is the perfect time to unwind, spend quality moments with loved ones, and return refreshed for the year ahead, and we hope you did just that. With a renewed spirit, we are excited to share updates on our work in January 2026 and give you a glimpse of what’s coming this week.
In this and the next 11 editions, we will be bringing you new developments, updates, and a new refreshing column, which we hope you will enjoy. To learn more, keep it here to the very end!
We look forward to having you with us for the rest of the year. We wish you a Happy and Prosperous 2026!
Enjoy the read, and as always, we would love to hear your feedback.
Key Highlights
• Data Privacy lessons from landmark cases in East Africa
• Strengthening Digital Rights ahead of Djibouti’s 2026 Elections
• The PIN Podcast - Understanding Strategic Communication in Digital Rights Advocacy
• From Ajegunle with LIFE: How far we have come
PIN supports legal challenge to Internet Shutdown in Uganda
Paradigm Initiative (PIN) is supporting a legal process challenging the recent internet shutdown in Uganda. Authorities restricted internet access and limited media coverage around the country’s recent general election, a continuation of a troubling pattern observed during the 2016 and 2021 elections. Such shutdowns severely undermine freedom of expression, access to information, election observation, media reporting, and economic activity. While PIN has long condemned these recurring measures, this legal support marks a significant shift from advocacy to accountability, aiming to ensure that citizens can exercise their digital rights without undue interference. See details here.
Events
DRIF26 session proposals: Less than 24 hours to go
Our call for session proposals for the 2026 Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF26) closes at midnight WAT today, and we encourage you to submit if you have not yet.
The event will take place in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from April 14-16, 2026. In the weeks ahead, Paradigm Initiative (PIN) will launch registration calls, and we will be eager to see you officially express your interest in participating, too. In the meantime, feel free to share your experience at past editions of DRIF and what you look forward to having with us at drif@paradigmhq.org
Digital Rights Academy with members of Nigeria’s National Assembly Press Corps.
On the 19th of January, Paradigm Initiative collaborated with the House of Representatives in Nigeria to host a Digital Rights Academy for the National Assembly Press Corps (NAPC) in Abuja. The training focused on strengthening journalists’ understanding of how technology, data, and online spaces are regulated, and how this legislation directly affects people’s rights, privacy, and everyday life.
Thank You to our ICT Teachers in Anglophone West Africa
Our first 2026 ICT Teachers Training Webinar, held on January 26-27 and themed “Digital Safeguards and AI Adoption in Classroom Practice,” was a tremendous success, with over 400 signups. A heartfelt thank you to all the teachers who joined us. Your enthusiasm and engagement made the sessions truly impactful. Participants gained practical skills to integrate AI tools responsibly, safeguard students’ digital rights, and enhance learning outcomes in their classrooms. The next edition will take place in Ghana on February 25, 2026.
Data Privacy Day Webinar: Learning from landmark cases in East Africa
Data Protection cases are not just a means of advocacy, but a learning curve for best practices. In our January 28 Data Privacy Day 2026 Webinar, PIN highlighted some of these cases from the East African region and what they mean for the continent moving forward. Participants explored pressing issues such as consent, accountability, cross-border data
flows, and the impact of stronger enforcement on protecting privacy in today’s digital world. Missed it? Revisit the full webinar here
Strengthening Digital Rights ahead of Djibouti’s 2026 Elections
As Djibouti prepares for its 2026 presidential elections, the digital dimension of elections is becoming increasingly important. On 28-29 January 2026, Paradigm Initiative hosted the Digital Rights and Elections in Africa Monitor (DREAM) alongside the Digital Rights Academy (DRA) in a dynamic two-day online event. The first day featured the Digital Rights Academy, designed specifically for election observers, providing practical knowledge and digital tools to safeguard rights during the electoral process. The second day brought together civil society, media, and electoral stakeholders through the DREAM engagement, fostering collaboration and reinforcing strategies to protect digital rights throughout the election cycle. Building on insights from DREAM initiatives across Africa, this edition in Djibouti equipped stakeholders with the expertise, mechanisms, and collaborative frameworks necessary to navigate digital challenges before, during, and after elections.
We want to hear from you
This year, Paradigm Initiative is placing a strong focus on impact, highlighting the real, human stories behind our work. Across Africa, we have delivered trainings, built tools, published research, supported advocacy initiatives, and created spaces for learning and collaboration. But what matters most to us is how these efforts show up in your lives and communities. Did a Digital Rights Academy change how you work? Did a toolkit help you respond to a digital rights challenge? Or did a workshop, report, or engagement shape a decision, policy, or personal action? We want to hear from you. Your story could help strengthen advocacy, inspire others, and shape what we do next. Reach out to us by email at media@ paradigmhq.org
Thought Leadership
This month, our thought leadership pieces explore how power, policy, and technology continue to shape digital rights across Africa. From platform accountability and online civic spaces to human rights in digital public infrastructure, these pieces offer timely insights grounded in lived realities across the continent.
Read our latest articles:
• Reconciling Platform States, Power and TFGBV in Africa: Our Senior Programmes Officer Khadijah-El Usman, examines how platform accountability in Africa can be reimagined to address TechnologyFacilitated Gender-Based Violence.
• The Future of Freedom of Speech and Online Civic Spaces in Southern Africa:
Our Programmes Officer Chiti Mutati reflects on shrinking civic spaces, digital repression, and what they mean for free expression in the region.
• Centring Human Rights in the Design and Adoption of Digital Public Infrastructures: Insights from the Global DPI Summit highlight why inclusion, accountability, and human rights must be embedded in digital public systems by Bridgette Ndlovu, our Partnerships and Engagements Officer.
• Integrating Digital Safeguards Into Nigeria’s New School Curriculum: Our Senior Programmes Officer, Ihueze Nwobilor reflects on Nigeria’s updated curriculum and the urgent need to embed digital safeguarding alongside digital skills.
The PIN Podcast - Strategic Communication in Digital Rights Advocacy
The first PIN podcast of 2026 is now available. The 20-minute conversation features Judith Ogutu, our Senior Communications Manager, sharing insights on what it takes to run a successful communications strategy that caters to the demands of the digital rights and advocacy sector today. She also outlines what it takes to put together the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF) as well as PIN’s other activities, reports and outputs. Listen here and remember to share with your networks.
Media Corner Letter to Ajegunle
Are less-connected African countries a decade from data sovereignty?
Despite rapid digital growth, Africa remains the least connected region in the world. The International Telecommunication Union estimates that just 38% of Africans were online in 2024, compared with 68% globally. Compounding this challenge is the fact that the continent’s data is largely controlled by external entities. PIN’s Programmes Officer, Sani Suleiman, has described this structural dependence as the underlying issue, which he said contributes to “a digital sovereignty trap, where African data fuels global AI systems with little accountability or return.” His perspectives and those of other industry experts are captured in this longread by Connecting Africa’s Eden Harris.
February activity list at PIN
• February 04 - Digital Rights Academy, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
• February 09 - Digital Rights Academy, Zambia
• February 12 - All Aboard Webinar
• February 16-17 - Digital Policy Engagement Series and Digital Rights Academy, Namibia
• February 19-20 - Digital Policy Engagement Series, Burundi
• February 25 - Net Rights Coalition Webinar
• February 25-26 - ICT Teachers Workshop and LIFE Legacy Town Hall, Ghana
From Ajegunle with LIFE: How far we have come
Dear Ajegunle,
It has been a while since we spoke. But as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Talking about absence, do you recall when we started? Absence seemed to be the only thing we had. Limited access to the internet, no access to training on Life Skills, ICTs, Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship. But we took that lack and turned it into LIFE. Today, we count not just hundreds or thousands, but hundreds of thousands of young people who have grown to feed on the fruits of our hunger for digital rights and inclusion.
Aje, as we turn over a new leaf, we can’t help but marvel at the numbers. Last year, we set foot into the 13th African country - Ugandawith a bang. You should have seen the smiles on our LIFE trainees’ faces as we kicked off. Of course, we also started the year with some bad news: their internet access was briefly shut down, resulting in millions in damage. But we are not letting it go. You will hear from us in the weeks ahead.
Dear comrade, did you hear about the Taiwo
Bankole Scholarship Award? It was a comeand-see, go-and-tell moment! First, the beneficiaries in 2025 grew to ten from four the previous year. You should have seen A grades and beautiful smiles fill the room as the award winners were announced.
Before we go, we’d like to remind you that you have been getting your flowers, as seen in the latest book by your guy, ‘Gbenga. Of course, the PIN story cannot be told without you and the early days at Stadnet Cybercafe. Do you remember when…? Well, I won’t spoil it. Get yourself a copy of the book, and we’ll dissect it together as we read along in subsequent letters.
While flipping through the pages, do not forget to hit play on African China’s “Crisis” for old times’ sake. Not just to remember the Ajegunle we survived, but to celebrate how far change has travelled from these same streets, across Nigeria, and now through Africa via the LIFE Legacy programme.
Yours truly,
The PIN Family
Letter to Ajegunle is a new segment of the PIN newsletter dedicated to the vibrant town of Ajegunle, where Paradigm Initiative’s journey began. Through these letters, we celebrate our roots, reflect on our growth, and share the stories of change that have come from these streets to communities across Africa.
