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Francophone Africa: Civil Society Weaves a Network for Transparency

Afrique francophone : la société civile s’organise pour faire avancer la transparence

Through webinars, regional solidarity, and local initiatives, civil society actors are gradually weaving a continental network around open government.

Across WhatsApp chats and Zoom screens, from Dakar to Rabat, a quiet movement is threading its way through Francophone Africa. It’s not loud, but it’s determined: a growing network of civil society actors working to reshape how governance is done openly, inclusively, and aligned with local realities.

The initiative, known as Open Dev Africa, is not a formal institution. It has no headquarters, press office or hierarchy. But it’s a network of more than 700 members across 21 countries unified in the belief that the Francophone world should have a stronger voice in the Open Government Partnership (OGP), where English-speaking countries have long dominated the conversation.

“At the first OGP meetings, the gap was obvious,” recalls Abdoulaye Ndiaye of Senegal’s Article 19. “The Anglophone countries came in with full action plans. We came with energy, but also delay. Still, we showed up.”

What began as an informal exchange of emails and group chats has become a continent-spanning web of collaboration. Organizations, youth movements, women’s collectives, and local associations are self-organizing around webinars, sharing tools and strategies, and drafting common agendas. Coordination happens horizontally. Titles don’t matter. Contributions do.

“There’s no center of gravity here,” says Tunisian activist and co-founder Mouna El Mekki. “Everyone brings what they can. That’s the strength.”

Official launch of the OpenDev Network at the OGP Africa and Middle East Regional Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, March 2025.

Learning Together, Organizing Fast

In less than a year, the network has hosted over a dozen webinars, each drawing around 60 participants—from journalists and legal experts to public servants and student leaders. The focus is practical: how to ensure budget transparency, what citizen participation means in practice, and how to foster accountability at the local level.

“We don’t do events to impress,” says Malick Lingani of Burkina Faso’s Beog Neere. “We do them to be useful.”

A common thread across the network is technology.What ties these efforts together is a shared belief in the power of technology to democratize information and amplify civic voices. In Cameroon, ADISI runs OpenGovLoc, training youth in digital monitoring of municipal budgets. In Rabat, Samia El Baouchi works with civil society groups to adopt tools like participatory budgeting and open data dashboards.

All it took was a single webinar organized by Impact for Development that catalyzed the movement. Ten people joined the call. Today, there are hundreds. With the support of OGP, a monthly rhythm has taken hold, linking participants across geographies and causes. The issues they rally around—climate justice, gender equity, inclusion, and transparency—emerged from a network-wide survey.

“Now we have an action plan, a roadmap we built ourselves,” says El Baouchi. “But we still need to grow. We need resources, training, and communication strategies that match the ambition.”

Staying the Course Amid Uneven Terrain

The network’s ambitions are clear. The road ahead is not.

Access to information remains unequal. Internet cuts and funding gaps persist. In many countries, political will is still hard to come by. Activist fatigue is real.

But the network endures because it addresses something essential: the need to build a public space that includes the excluded and values knowledge from below.

“Civil society can’t just oppose,” says Ndiaye. “It has to propose, to build. And we’re doing that step by step.”

What sets Open Dev Africa apart is its refusal to wait for top-down change. It is, instead, shaping a bottom-up infrastructure of openness, powered by collective memory, regional solidarity, and a sense of quiet urgency.

Telling the Stories That Matter

As Open Dev Africa becomes more organized in its approach, the next stop on the agenda is a portrait series. The  purpose is not merely a communications tool, but to bear witness to the stories and struggles behind the movement. To document the lives of those involved. To humanize abstract policy debates. To show what open government looks like when it’s rooted in everyday experience.

“Each journey is singular,” says El Mekki. “But together they tell a story: that of a continent refusing to be sidelined.”

April 2025 saw the official launch in Nairobi. But it was more than a symbolic milestone. It marked a pivot, from emergence to consolidation, from conversation to coordination.

With ongoing support from OGP and interest from potential partners, Open Dev Africa is positioning itself as more than just a network. It’s a proposal. A vision. A claim that Francophone Africa has not only something to say about governance, but something to teach as well.


This blog is supported by the French Development Agency (AFD). The ideas and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the French Development Agency.

Comments (2)

patrice Reply

Félicitation chers collègues

Mohamed Elkhouaja Reply

That really sounds like a great initiative!
We are an ambitious association based in the province of Ouezzane, Morocco. We are currently working on a project focused on empowering children, youth, and girls in rural areas. We are also working to integrate coding and technology into our programs to help bridge the digital divide.
We would be delighted to join the Open Government Partnership and would love the opportunity to learn from other inspiring associations. Please feel free to guide us on how we can join the network.
Thank you for your support!

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