As April comes to a close, we are taking this moment to say a big Thank You. The 2026 edition of the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF26) reminded us of what is possible when a community comes together with a common purpose. From impactful conversations and report launches to new platforms, an unforgettable movie, and meaningful connections made, our April story has been an apt demonstration of what collective effort can achieve. As we look ahead, we carry forward the ideas sparked, the partnerships formed, and the momentum built as foundations for even greater things. There is still so much to do, and with you, our community by our side, we are confident that even greater things lie ahead.
Today, we reflect on the wins recorded in April.
Key Highlights
• DRIF26: A week to relish
• Londa: Latest insights from the Score Index
• PIN leads consultation on Draft National Action Plan on Digital Rights in Nigeria
• Experience The Signal - Online Premiere on May 22
• Girls in ICT: Protecting Every Girl, Leaving No One Behind
• Letter to Ajegunle: DRIF is coming back home
Londa: Latest insights from the Score Index
South Africa has retained its place as Africa’s leading digital rights-respecting country for the second time in a row. Closely followed by Ghana, Namibia, Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi, and Nigeria. This was revealed at our 2026 Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF26), in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where the 2025 Londa Report on the state of digital rights and inclusion in Africa was officially launched. The Londa report offers a comprehensive, data-driven assessment of internet freedoms, policy environments, and emerging digital rights risks across the continent. Its Score Index also provides an annual benchmark of progress and setbacks in digital rights protection, drawing on extensive country-level research and stakeholder engagement. Check out the report here to see how your country performed.
Equipping the storytellers
On 13 April 2026, just a day before the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF26) officially began in Abidjan, Paradigm Initiative held a dedicated media training session with Ivorian journalists. Through the training, we supported them with the resources and knowledge
needed to identify and tell digital rights stories within their respective scopes. The session created space to reflect on how digital rights intersect with everyday reporting, and how issues such as access, misinformation, and digital safety are increasingly shaping the stories journalists already cover.
PIN convenes consultation on Draft National Action Plan on Digital Rights in Nigeria
Nigeria’s digital ecosystem has expanded rapidly over the past decade, deepening citizens’ reliance on online platforms and digital services for every aspect of daily life. While the country has multiple laws and institutions touching on aspects of digital governance, stakeholder feedback shows that protections are inconsistent, implementation responsibilities across institutions are often unclear, and public reporting pathways remain unclear. This was the basis of our April 30th consultation on a draft National Action Plan. Designed as a practical, timebound roadmap to strengthen the protection and promotion of digital rights in Nigeria, we met with stakeholders from the Northern and Southern geopolitical zones of the country to further ongoing conversations on the stakes and how to ensure the Plan reflects their daily realities.
Events
DRIF26: A week to relish
With 112 sessions hosted at DRIF26, the Forum featured a rich mix of panels, workshops, lightning talks, and tech demos. From artificial intelligence and data protection to digital inclusion and online freedoms, every session expanding the conversation. also featured the launch of the Londa 2025 report on digital rights and inclusion in Africa, introducing the latest Score Index. Another highlight of DRIF26 was the publication of a new study on information integrity, which sheds light on the growing challenge of disinformation across six African countries, and the official launch of the Digital Rights On-Demand Learning (DROL) platform, which expands access to free digital rights courses.
Send us an email at drif.media@paradigmhq. org to sign up for our DRIF newsletter to get more updates.
Experience The Signal - Online Premiere on May 22
What does digital exclusion really look like? At DRIF26, we premiered “The Signal,” Paradigm Initiative’s latest short film, inspired by the Londa 2024 Report. The film shines a light on vulnerable communities, especially in remote areas, where access to the internet and basic
digital services remains limited. In a world rapidly going digital, many remain unable to connect, seek help, or fully participate, reminding us that digital innovation alone does not guarantee inclusion. Check out the trailer and remember to sign up for the official online launch on 22nd May, 2026.
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
Girls in ICT: Protecting Every Girl, Leaving No One Behind
Technologies such as AI, cloud computing, and software development are projected to contribute USD1.5 trillion to Africa’s GDP by 2030. However, the digital divide continues to threaten women and girls’ ability to participate equitably in an increasingly technologydriven world, heightening the need to ensure opportunities for young women’s economic empowerment in a region already burdened by a youth unemployment crisis. On the 2026 edition of the International Girls in ICT Day, under the theme “AI for Development: Girls Shaping the Digital Future,” our Programmes Officer for the Southern Africa region, Chiti Mutati, explores the region’s progress in empowering and protecting girls in ICT, measured against key World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) action lines. Check out her latest blog post.
Media Corner
DRIF26 brings a breath of fresh air to Côte d’Ivoire
In addition to reports, product launches, networking and more, DRIF is also a culture. The DRIF26 delegates were treated to an exceptional performance by the Afrik Art Dance Company, renowned for its dynamic shows blending traditional African dances with contemporary performances. In an emotionally charged performance, Grand Medias described the cultural performances at the Forum as a breath of fresh air, and rightly so. Did you miss the performances? Revisit them through Grand Medias’ analysis here.
Make March count with Paradigm Initiative
• May 4: Digital Rights and Elections in Africa Monitor [DREAM] Zambia
• May 11: AfroCities Cafe Abuja
• May 13 - 14: Digital Rights Academy [DRA] Lagos
• May 11-15 - West Africa IGF in Sierra Leone
• May 18-19: Digital Rights and Elections in Africa Monitor (DREAM) Ethiopia
• May 21: PIN Us Breakfast - East Africa Edition
• May 22nd: The Signal Short Film Launch
• May 25th - 26th: Digital Rights Academy [DRA] and Digital Policy Engagement Series [DIPES] Congo Brazzaville
Letter to Ajegunle
DRIF is coming back home
Dear Ajegunle,
We hope you are keeping your spirit as warm as ever. We hear life is still moving fast on your streets, with the usual music spilling from corners, and of dreams of your youth doing what they always do best - come alive. We also know you have been following us quietly from afar. From Ajegunle to Abidjan, from Lagos to the wider continent, you have watched this journey grow sometimes with pride, sometimes with surprise, but always with that familiar sense of “we were there when it began.”
Well… this time, we are writing with even better news. DRIF is coming back home. In 2027, the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF27) will return to Nigeria, back to where many of these conversations started under the banner of the Internet Freedom Forum. It will be the 14th edition of DRIF, and also the 20th anniversary of Paradigm Initiative’s existence. Twenty years of asking questions, building platforms, touching lives and insisting that digital rights and inclusion are not privileges, but necessities.
Ajegunle, you would remember how it started. Nearly two decades later, the journey still has
one constant: people like you who provide the fuel that runs the engine. Sponsors, funders, donors, volunteers, and a whole community that gives relevance to the work and the stories we live. And speaking of stories… At DRIF26, many rushed to get a copy of The Paradigm Initiative Story: A Work in Progress, looking to understand this parcours pieced together chapter by chapter, memory by memory.
But Ajegunle, this is where it gets even more special. Those who read that book are not just reading history; they are standing at the edge of what comes next. Because now, with DRIF returning home, there is a rare chance to not only revisit the story we have shared so far, but to live the next chapter of that dream together. Now the story is circling back, and we cannot wait to welcome the entire Global South home.
We imagine DRIF27 in Nigeria will feel different. Familiar, yes, but bigger and heavier with the weight of everything learned across the previous thirteen editions, across different countries, from thousands of participants and across countless conversations about digital rights, access, safety, and inclusion.
Today, we leave you with Wiz Khalifa’s 2015 hit, See You Again.
Ajegunle, we are coming home.
Yours truly,
The PIN Fam
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.
