Africa’s Voices emerged out of four years of research at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Governance and Human Rights (CGHR), on Politics and Interactive Media in Africa.

With strong interest from initial collaborators, in 2014 Africa’s Voices spun out from the centre to become Africa’s Voices Foundation – an independent, non-profit research organisation and registered UK charity. Their core funders and supporters include The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The David and Elaine Potter Foundation, and The Cairns Charitable Trust.

Africa’s Voices is a rapidly growing organisation. Having begun in Cambridge, they have now established a second office in Nairobi, Kenya. They maintain strong academic links with the University of Cambridge, and continue to collaborate closely with different researchers and departments.

Development and governance actors come to them in need of meaningful and actionable insights that will help to inform, monitor, and evaluate their programmes. They provide them with the knowledge and resources to be able to engage hard-to-reach social groups, and effectively interpret and apply data insights. From the rich insights they provide, their partners can better understand the citizens they serve. This leads to more informed and impactful programmes and policy – ultimately enhancing the well-being and agency of African citizens.

To date, they have worked with a range of organisations and conducted research on a variety of topics including citizens’ beliefs surrounding maternal health in Uganda, oil and gas extraction in Northern Kenya, and immunisation in Somalia. Following initial engagement, all of their partner organisations have indicated their wish to continue and expand their work with them.

Africa’s Voices hopes to establish itself as the ‘go-to’ organisation for robust, credible and innovative research within the African context. Their work helps development and governance actors to put citizens’ voices at the heart of their programmes, and by sharing their learnings and building capacity, they hope to inspire others working in development, social technology, and academia to do citizen engagement digitally.