From Kigali to the continent: building Africa’s digital safety blueprint for kids 🛡️ 👦🏾

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As internet access among young Africans accelerates at record speed, UNICEF and the GSMA have launched Africa’s first-ever Taskforce on Child Online Protection. Announced in Kigali, the initiative aims to deliver a united, continent-wide response to the growing risks children face in the digital world.

Responding to a continental emergency 🚨

Smartphone use among under-18s is skyrocketing across Africa — often without parental supervision or effective digital safeguards. While social media has become a vital space for self-expression, it’s also a growing minefield for young users.
From cyberbullying and scams to exposure to sexualized content, hate speech, and misinformation, the threats are multiplying as digital access expands.

That’s why the Africa Taskforce on Child Online Protection was officially unveiled at the Mobile World Congress Africa 2025 in Kigali. Far from being a symbolic announcement, the Taskforce’s mission is to turn the recommendations from UNICEF and GSMA’s June 2025 white paper into concrete policies and on-the-ground actions.
Its long-term goal: make child digital safety a central pillar of Africa’s digital transformation.

A coalition like no other 🤝

The initiative’s strength lies in its diversity. The Taskforce brings together African governments, major telecom operators such as MTN, Orange, Safaricom, and Vodacom, as well as international partners like INTERPOL, the Internet Watch Foundation, and the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.
Media groups including Paramount Africa and youth representatives are also part of the effort.

This collaborative model aims to move beyond fragmented national or sector-specific approaches. The goal is to harmonize policies, improve digital monitoring, and encourage companies to design child safety directly into their products and services.
According to Etleva Kadilli of UNICEF, this is a commitment to “a digital future that not only protects, but also educates and empowers.”
For the GSMA, it marks a major step toward responsible digital governance across Africa.

Building a shared African framework for online protection 🛡️

The Taskforce isn’t stopping at awareness campaigns. It plans to develop common standards, train parents and teachers, and create digital tools tailored to local realities. Importantly, it also seeks to give young people a seat at the table — ensuring that child protection strategies are built with them, not just for them.

In time, this initiative could lay the groundwork for a continent-wide regulatory framework, similar in scope to Europe’s GDPR but focused on protecting minors online.
It’s an ambitious, distinctly African vision of the internet — one that’s sovereign, forward-looking, and determined to act before it’s too late.

👉🏾 What measures should come first to make the internet safer for African children?