The African Digital Rights Network

What The African Digital Rights Network does

The African Digital Rights Network (ADRN) is a non-profit research network of activists, academics, and analysts conducting research on digital rights across Africa. Founded in 2020 and operationally hosted by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK, ADRN brings together 75+ researchers from 30+ African countries to study two intersecting strands: digital citizenship (creative and positive uses of digital technology to expand rights and civic space) and digital authoritarianism (repressive uses of digital technology by governments and corporations). The network operates as a collaborative membership body with admission by existing-member approval and an elected board; it is not a formally incorporated commercial entity and does not publicly disclose financial information.

ADRN's core outputs are open-access publications. The flagship asset is the Digital Africa book series published with Zed Books/Bloomsbury, comprising five published titles (Digital Citizenship, Digital Disinformation, Digital Surveillance, Internet Shutdowns, and Feminist Digital Citizenship) with four additional titles in development for 2026 (Biometric Digital-ID, Smart City Surveillance, Queer Digital Citizenship, and Youth Digital Citizenship). The network also produces standalone research reports — Mapping the Supply of Surveillance Technologies to Africa (2021), the African Surveillance Law Report (2021), The Digitalisation of Social Protection in Africa (2024, with over 700 worker participants across six countries), and Biometric Digital-ID in Africa (2025) — plus free educational guides such as Understanding Digital Rights. All publications are free to download; physical books are sold through Bloomsbury, Amazon, and standard retailers. Distribution channels are the ADRN website, Bloomsbury Collections, IDS Open Docs, and partner civil society organizations.

ADRN is funded primarily through grants from foundations including the Ford Foundation (Digital Social Protection research) and the British Academy (Writing Workshops project for early career researchers). Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: researchers participate through conference presentations at FIFAfrica and DRIF, peer-reviewed journal publications (Information Technology for Development), and joint research projects with civil society partners such as Paradigm Initiative, CIPESA, Access Now, WIEGO, IDWFED, HomeNet Africa, StreetNet International, JONAPWD, and ITUC-Africa, as well as academic institutions including the University of Cape Town, Pan-Atlantic University, and Eduardo Mondlane University. Customer segments are non-commercial: African digital rights researchers and academics, civil society organizations, marginalized workers' organizations, policymakers, and academic institutions.

Name

The African Digital Rights Network

Legal name

African Digital Rights Network

Website

https://africandigitalrightsnetwork.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The African Digital Rights Network is a non-profit research network of 75+ researchers from 30+ African countries producing open-access books and reports on digital rights and authoritarianism, funded by grants from the Ford Foundation and the British Academy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Rights Research

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Rights, Privacy & Free Expression Advocacy (BPAGAFAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Media Freedom, Access to Information & Digital Rights (BPADAGAE)

Keywords

• Digital rights research
• Africa policy research
• Open access publishing
• Digital citizenship studies
• Internet governance research

Headquarters

HQ city

Brighton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: ADRN operates as a non-profit research network funded primarily by grant funding from foundations and institutions. The network gratefully acknowledges financial support from Ford Foundation and other funders. Revenue comes from grants to support research activities, publication of reports and books, and network operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The African Digital Rights Network (ADRN) is a research network of 75+ activists, academics and analysts from 30+ African countries that produces open-access publications on digital rights in Africa, including the Digital Africa book series published with Zed Books/Bloomsbury, country landscape reports on surveillance, internet shutdowns, biometric digital-ID, digital social protection, and free educational guides on digital rights.

Product overview

The African Digital Rights Network (ADRN) is a network of researchers, activists, and academics rather than a traditional product company. The organization's core offerings consist of published research and educational publications, primarily organized as the 'Digital Africa' book series published by Zed Books/Bloomsbury. The portfolio includes five published books covering digital citizenship, digital disinformation, digital surveillance, internet shutdowns, and feminist digital citizenship in Africa, plus additional research reports on surveillance technologies, surveillance law, biometric digital-ID, and digital social protection. ADRN also produces free educational guides on understanding digital rights. The publications are open access and freely downloadable, targeting researchers, policymakers, civil society organizations, and advocates working on digital rights issues across Africa.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Digital Citizenship in Africa: Technologies of Agency and Repression First book in the Digital Africa series published by Zed Books. A collected edition of case studies documenting the creative use of digital technologies to open online civic space, claim rights, and hold power to account. Edited by Tony Roberts and Tanja Bosch.
• Digital Disinformation in Africa: Hashtag Politics, Power and Propaganda Second book in the Digital Africa series published by Zed Books. Documents and analyses digital disinformation campaigns that manipulate citizens' beliefs and behaviour and shrink civic space for democratic debate.
• Digital Surveillance in Africa: Power, Agency and Rights Third book in the Digital Africa series published by Zed Books. Examines how governments and private actors in Africa use spyware, mobile phone extraction, biometric and face recognition systems to serve power interests.
• Internet Shutdowns in Africa: Technology, Rights and Power Fourth book in the Digital Africa series. Provides ten in-depth case studies of state-sponsored internet shutdowns across all regions of Africa.
• Feminist Digital Citizenship in Africa: Agency, Rights and Resistance Fifth book in the Digital Africa series. First-ever book-length volume on feminist digital citizenship in Africa.
• Biometric Digital-ID in Africa: Progress and Challenges to Date Comprehensive report providing the most up-to-date account of digital-ID across Africa, with findings drawn from ten country case studies.
• Mapping the Supply of Surveillance Technologies to Africa Report documenting which companies from which countries supply surveillance technology to African governments, with case studies from Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco, Malawi and Zambia.
• African Surveillance Law Report First comparative analysis of how privacy rights are protected in surveillance law across six African countries: Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Sudan.
• The Digitalisation of Social Protection in Africa: The Perspective of Marginalised Workers Report analyzing the digitalisation of social protection from the perspective of informal, disabled, and migrant workers, with research in six countries and over 700 participants.
• Understanding Digital Rights: Definitions, Conceptions and Myths Free introductory illustrated guide to digital rights explaining digital rights as entitlements in human rights law, as a framework for analyzing technology, and as a form of activism.

Quantifiable outcome

• Network of 75+ researchers from 30+ African countries
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Institute of Development Studies (IDS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIDS serves as the institutional host for ADRN. Tony Roberts is a Digital Research Fellow at IDS. The two organizations co-publish reports and the Digital Africa book series. IDS provides administrative infrastructure and academic credibility to the network.
• Zed Books / BloomsburycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorZed Books/Bloomsbury is the publishing partner for the Digital Africa book series. All ADRN books in the series are published by Zed Books as open access titles, with Bloomsbury handling distribution.
• Paradigm InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerADRN collaborates with Paradigm Initiative on the Biometric Digital-ID in Africa project. Thobekile Matimbe from Paradigm Initiative serves as ADRN's Membership Secretary. Paradigm Initiative co-hosts the DRIF conference and is a key organizational partner.
• WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWIEGO is a partner in the Digital Social Protection research project, providing expertise on informal workers and supporting research with marginalised worker organizations.
• International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWFED)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIDWFED partnered with ADRN on the Digital Social Protection research, conducting interviews with domestic workers across multiple African countries.
• HomeNet AfricamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHomeNet Africa, representing home-based workers, partnered on the Digital Social Protection research project, conducting focus groups with workers in Kenya and other countries.
• StreetNet InternationalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStreetNet International, representing street vendors, partnered on the Digital Social Protection research, conducting studies with informal economy workers in Zambia and other countries.
• JONAPWD (Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJONAPWD partnered on the Digital Social Protection research, conducting case studies on how digitalisation affects workers with disabilities in Nigeria.
• CIPESA (Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCIPESA hosts Juliet Nanfuka, ADRN's Treasurer. The organization is a key digital rights actor in East Africa and collaborates with ADRN on research and advocacy.
• University of Cape TownmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessor Tanja Bosch, ADRN's Chairperson, is based at the University of Cape Town. The university provides academic affiliation and supports ADRN leadership.
• Access NowmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFelicia Anthonio from Access Now co-edited the Internet Shutdowns in Africa book with Tony Roberts. Access Now leads the #KeepItOn campaign against internet shutdowns.
• Information Technology for Development JournalmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThe journal is hosting a special issue on Digital Authoritarianism in Africa, where ADRN-supported early career researchers will submit papers developed through the British Academy-funded writing workshops.
• African Platform for Social ProtectionmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAfrican Platform for Social Protection partnered on the Digital Social Protection research, producing policy briefs on digital social protection issues for informal workers.
• ITUC-AfricamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerITUC-Africa partnered on the Digital Social Protection research, producing policy briefs on advancing digital social protection for informal and migrant workers.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Access Now: Global digital rights organization that defends and extends the digital rights of users at risk. Direct peer: ADRN co-edits publications with Access Now staff (e.g., Internet Shutdowns in Africa book), and both organizations conduct advocacy and research on internet freedom in Africa.
• Witness (organization): International human rights organization using video and technology to document human rights abuses. Direct peer: Witness and ADRN both produce research-driven advocacy on how digital technologies affect civic space and human rights, with overlapping global geographic focus.
• Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA): Regional digital rights and ICT policy think tank focused on East and Southern Africa. Direct peer: CIPESA hosts ADRN's Treasurer and produces complementary country-level digital rights landscape reports that overlap heavily with ADRN's research mandate.
• Article 19: International freedom of expression organization working on digital rights, surveillance, and civic space globally. Direct peer: Article 19 and ADRN share mandate and overlapping geographic focus on digital rights research and policy advocacy in Africa.
• Privacy International: UK-based charity that challenges government and corporate surveillance. Direct peer: Privacy International's research on surveillance technologies, data protection, and state overreach overlaps directly with ADRN's Mapping the Supply of Surveillance Technologies to Africa report.
• Tactical Tech: International NGO working at the intersection of technology and human rights, producing research and educational materials on digital rights. Direct peer: Tactical Tech produces open-access educational resources similar to ADRN's Understanding Digital Rights illustrated guide.
• Paradigm Initiative: Pan-African digital rights and digital inclusion organization serving underserved youth. Direct peer: Paradigm Initiative co-hosts the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF) with ADRN and partners on the Biometric Digital-ID in Africa project, making them a direct collaborator and adjacent service provider in the same ecosystem.

Regional players

• SMEX: Digital rights organization focused on West Asia and North Africa. Regional peer: SMEX covers the Arabic-speaking MENA region with a digital rights mandate that mirrors ADRN's, but does not directly compete in sub-Saharan Africa.

Broad incumbents

• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): Long-established US digital rights organization working on privacy, free expression, and innovation. Broad incumbent: EFF operates globally with significantly larger resources, providing digital rights research and litigation that overlaps with ADRN's pan-African research focus.
• Internews: International nonprofit supporting independent media and information access worldwide. Broad incumbent: Internews operates larger digital rights and internet freedom programs globally with substantially greater resources than ADRN, covering related but broader thematic ground.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/adrnorg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The African Digital Rights Network