Sierra Leone launches Africa’s first SIM-based online safety service for children 🇸🇱🛡️

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As digital risks facing children continue to grow, Sierra Leone is taking an unconventional but pragmatic approach. The country has launched Kidzonet, a child online protection service built directly into the SIM card. Developed in partnership with mobile operator Africell, the initiative aims to give parents a simple, affordable way to manage what their children can access online.

A locally grounded response 🌍

Online child safety has become a pressing issue worldwide, including across Africa, where mobile internet adoption is accelerating. Social media platforms, video apps, and unfiltered web content increasingly expose children to inappropriate material, scams, and manipulation.

Against this backdrop, Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Communication, Technology and Innovation officially introduced Kidzonet, positioning it as Africa’s first child online protection system that operates directly at the SIM card level.

The goal is to deliver a solution aligned with local realities. Not every household has access to modern smartphones, and digital literacy levels vary widely. By relying on the most common piece of technology—the basic mobile phone—Kidzonet avoids many of the barriers that come with app-based parental control tools.

How Kidzonet works 📱

Unlike traditional parental control apps, Kidzonet requires no downloads or installations. Parents can activate the service by simply dialing *499# on an Africell SIM card. Once enabled, content filtering is applied directly at the mobile network level.

In practice, Kidzonet blocks access to content deemed inappropriate for children, including certain social media platforms and websites. Essential services remain unaffected: voice calls and SMS continue to function normally, ensuring children can always be reached.

The service only operates on Africell’s mobile network and does not cover Wi-Fi connections. This technical limitation is intentional, helping keep the system simple, stable, and easier to manage at scale.

Designed to be affordable and family-friendly 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Kidzonet is priced at 9 Leone (209,46 FCFA, 0,32€) for 30 days, a deliberately low cost intended to encourage widespread adoption, including among lower-income households.

For both the government and the telecom operator, the initiative goes beyond technological novelty. It is also about building trust among families and promoting safer internet use from an early age.

By giving parents and guardians a direct, network-level control tool, Kidzonet addresses a gap often seen in African cybersecurity policies: child-specific online protection in environments where content regulation remains limited.

A model for the rest of Africa? 🌐

With this launch, Sierra Leone positions itself as a regional pioneer in digital child protection. The SIM-based approach could prove particularly attractive to other African countries facing similar challenges, especially in areas where smartphones and app ecosystems are still unevenly distributed.

Kidzonet fits into a broader vision of digital transformation—one where innovation is not just about performance or speed, but about solving real social challenges. By putting children’s safety at the center of its digital strategy, Sierra Leone is charting a path toward a more inclusive and responsible internet across the continent.

👉🏾 Do you think that SIM card-based online protection solutions could be effective and suitable in other African countries?