Call for Application: African Union Civic Tech Fund

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What is this call about?

The African Union Civic Tech Fund is a pan-African competition that aims to accelerate innovative civic tech initiatives that have the potential to lead to citizen-led transformative action across the African continent. This rests on the recognition that there is an acute need for meaningful participation by African citizens in addressing and solving governance and development challenges across the continent.

The overarching policy framework for the African Union Civic Tech Fund is Africa’s Agenda 2063 as well as other key policy documents associated with the African Union Shared Values agenda, such as the ACDEG or the African Youth Charter. Initiatives should therefore provide innovative solutions to solve problems of citizen participation, across a number of relevant areas:

  • Participation in public space & public discourse;
  • Electoral cycles and elections;
  • Rule of law & orderly transfers of power between governments;
  • Democratic culture and political pluralism;
  • Responsive, transparent and accountable governance;
  • Peace and security (where it impacts democratic governance);
  • Human, economic and sustainable development (where it impacts democratic
    governance).

1. Overview
This guideline document provides an overview of the African Union Civic Tech Fund (hereafter the ‘Fund’) and the type of support it provides. The primary purpose of this document is to allow prospective applicants to understand the Fund’s background, its scope, its priorities, its support package, the application and selection process as well as
the eligibility criteria. This will allow prospective applicants to write strong proposals that align with the objectives of the Fund.

2. Background
There is an acute need for meaningful participation by African citizens in addressing and solving governance and development challenges across the continent. Civic technologies (or civic tech) are digital tools that make it easier for citizens to engage with those in power. Civic tech can help strengthen democratic processes and promote inclusive decision-making. It is therefore a key vehicle through which citizen participation can be achieved.
The African Union policy context provides several entry points for civic technologies seeking to increase participation. Africa’s Agenda 2063 and its powerful vision of Africa as a ‘global powerhouse’ is an example of such an overarching policy framework. The African Charter for Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) can also serve as a reference for civic tech initiatives. Its focus on democratic governance, but also peace and development, provide several thematic entry points for civic initiatives. The African Youth Charter is another example of a policy document providing useful hooks for civic tech initiatives. Furthermore the African Governance Architecture’s (AGA’s) Youth Engagement Strategy recognizes the youth “are actively undertaking grassroots-based mobilization as well as the using of information and communications technologies (ICT), among other engagement mechanisms, to cast light on their plights”.

The organizational structure of the African Union can further amplify those continental alliances between policy-makers and citizens brought about by civic tech, for example through the AGA, the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs).

In this, it is key to involve citizens from all walks of life. Persons with disabilities, diaspora communities, the private sector, civil society, media, academia, and others are asked to support policy-makers by bringing forward their needs and ideas. In particular, the involvement of women and youths is a precondition for successful governance and
development processes of the continent. This is self-evident, given that about half of the population is female and that more than a third of the population is under the age of 35.

3. Scope
The Fund is a pan-African competition that aims to accelerate innovative civic tech initiatives that have the potential to lead to citizen-led transformative action across the African continent.

The overall budget available under this current call is EUR 160 750. The financial support to be awarded to each initiative will range from EUR 10 000 to EUR 20 000 –over an implementation period of six months. Recipients must be able to enter a service contract agreement (as opposed to a grant agreement). Additional rounds of
funding will follow in the future.

Due to the size of financial support available to each recipient, the Fund will pay particular attention to the upscaling, adaptation or replication of pre-existing civic tech initiatives – if they are in accordance with any of the priorities described further below. The financial support may also be used to fund the deployment of civic technology in close partnership with a particular citizen group or civil society organization that does not have the expertise to do so on its own. While the ground-up development of original ideas qualifies for funding as well, such proposals, like all others, need to demonstrate feasibility and probabilities of success within the budget ceilings specified above.

4. Support package
Aside from the financial support, the Fund will provide selected initiatives with additional technical support according to their identified needs.
In sum, the support package looks as follows:

1. Financial support
○ EUR 10 000 to EUR 20 000 per recipient.
2. Technical support
○ Virtual inception/acceleration week (hosted by AfriLabs).
○ Provision of embedded technical expertise through the engagement of civic tech specialists.
3. Thematic support
○ Provision of thematic expertise on democracy support, African Union governance & continental policy-making.
4. Marketing, communication & showcasing support
○ Facilitation of access to decision-makers at the African Union level as well as the international development community.
5. Peer-to-peer learning & networking
○ Facilitation of exchange between recipients and other members of related civic tech ecosystems.

5. Priorities
The overarching policy framework for the Fund is Africa’s Agenda 2063 as well as other key policy documents associated with the African Union Shared Values agenda, such as the ACDEG or the African Youth Charter.
Initiatives should therefore provide innovative solutions to solve problems of citizen participation, across a number of relevant areas:
● Participation in public space & public discourse;
● Electoral cycles and elections;
● Rule of law & orderly transfers of power between governments;
● Democratic culture and political pluralism;
● Responsive, transparent and accountable governance;
● Peace and security (where it impacts democratic governance);
● Human, economic and sustainable development (where it impacts democratic governance).
For example, initiatives may propose to leverage technology in order to…
● …enable citizens to have a voice on key issues within their constituencies, e.g. by encouraging participation in digital councils, fora, etc.;
● …enable citizens to better understand and interact within political decision-making processes, including electoral or political party processes, e.g. by post-electoral tracking of campaign promises or election observation recommendations.
● …enable citizen journalism in the context of monitoring governance performance and promoting responsiveness, transparency and accountability, e.g. by sourcing, opening and analyzing public data;…support citizens’ action to prevent violence and conflict, e.g. by combating misinformation or providing digital civic education.
These are only examples. Prospective recipients are free to suggest interventions of their preference, as long as they are linked to the overall thematic categories. Particular added-value elements are…
● …a decided focus on youth involvement;
● …a clear emphasis on gender equality & women’s empowerment;
● …identifiable entry points for African Union policy & programming processes;
● …a clear adoption of a pan-African approach.

6. Application & selection process
The following provides an overview of the application and selection process from the publication of the guidelines to the start of implementation.

6.1. Indicative timeline
Publication of guidelines 25 November 2021
Formal launch & information session 25 November 2021
Deadline to submit proposals 16 January 2022
Preliminary award decision by Selection Committee February 2022
Negotiation, finalization & award March 2022
Implementation April – September 2022

6.2. Call for proposals
The application period is open immediately and will close on Sunday, 16 January 2022, 23h59 (East Africa Time). This means that prospective applicants will have a period of roughly 7 weeks to prepare and submit their proposals.
The online application form is available on https://civictechfund.africa/auctf. Only applications submitted via the online application form will be considered.

Read more and Download full guidelines here: https://civictechfund.africa/auctf/

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