Mapping of Media Assistance and Journalism Support Programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa

12. February 2026

By Catherine Gicheru and Zoe Titus, GFMD Steering Committee Members

Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to introduce this issue of MediaDev Insider, with updates on the vibrant and evolving public interest media scene in Sub-Saharan Africa. Across the continent, journalists, media outlets, and civil society organisations continue to play an essential role in informing citizens and strengthening democratic participation, even as the environment for independent media grows increasingly complex.

Like other regions, Africa faces persistent challenges: limited funding for public interest journalism, rapid technological change that is reshaping media systems, and the need to keep pace with global trends such as the use of artificial intelligence in newsrooms.

Beyond funding gaps, developments across Sub-Saharan Africa point to deeper structural shifts in the media landscape. Global digital platforms are reshaping advertising markets, audience reach, and the circulation of news, often drawing value from local journalism without comparable investment or accountability.

At the same time, emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, are entering newsrooms unevenly. A small number of outlets are able to experiment with new tools, while many others lack the resources, protections, or leverage to adopt them on their own terms. In this context, AI risks deepening existing inequalities, accelerating disinformation, and amplifying online abuse – particularly against women journalists – rather than strengthening public interest journalism.

These challenges are unfolding alongside growing political and regulatory pressure. As a result, Africa-led media organisations are absorbing rising digital, economic, and safety risks, while remaining largely excluded from the policy and funding decisions that shape the environments in which they operate.

The latest research led by NMT Media Foundation across 11 African countries (to be published soon) examines how media accountability works in practice. The study looks beyond formal regulation to assess complaint mechanisms, self-regulation, public engagement, and ethics in digital news environments. Early findings show wide variation across countries and strong potential for locally grounded models based on transparency, independence, and public participation.

Recent developments in Uganda underline the seriousness of the current moment. In the wake of the January 2026 presidential elections, civil society organisations and media actors have faced increased restrictions, including NGO suspensions, an internet shutdown during the electoral period, and continued harassment of journalists. These developments raise renewed concerns about press freedom and access to information.

Alongside these pressures, African civil society and media development actors continue to shape policy responses rather than remain on the margins. At the continental level, multi-stakeholder work at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is advancing new standards on data access, platform accountability, fact-checking, and public interest content. These processes bring journalists, regulators, and technical experts into shared policy space, grounded in African media realities.

Beyond formal policy forums, African actors are also asserting influence globally through initiatives such as M20, positioning information integrity as a public good and linking media sustainability, democratic accountability, and digital governance in practical terms. At national and regional levels, organisations pair policy engagement with action through strategic litigation, access to information implementation, journalist safety systems, and locally rooted sustainability models. Together, these efforts show African leadership shaping the rules and asserting influence over the conditions in which media operate.

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, media law, digital regulation, and competition policy are increasingly converging. Regulatory coordination is growing at the regional level, while civil society’s access to these spaces remains uneven. At the same time, limited experimentation with platform contributions to local media sustainability is emerging, though without consistent safeguards for independence. These trends point to a policy moment where decisions made now will shape media viability and accountability for years to come.

Against this backdrop, we are pleased to share insights from the newly completed Mapping of Media Assistance and Journalism Support Programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa report. The report finds that journalist safety, digital rights, and gender-focused media support remain critically under-resourced, despite escalating risks and deep structural inequalities. It also exposes widening gaps in support for fragile states in Central Africa and parts of the Sahel. Funding for independent media remains heavily concentrated in a small number of countries, shaped by short-term funding cycles and marked by a lack of innovative approaches.

Most strikingly, the report reveals a major disconnect between media assistance budgets and the wider economic context of African media markets. Commercial media markets across the continent are expanding rapidly and are projected to generate USD 28 billion by 2029 in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya alone. Yet official development assistance dedicated to media remains marginal, accounting for just 0.3% of global ODA – approximately an annual average of USD 620 million worldwide, with Africa receiving only a portion of this.

We look forward to discussing these findings with partners and colleagues at upcoming regional and global convenings, including the Africa Editors Congress (23–24 February 2026) and the Africa Media Festival (25–26 February) in Nairobi. We invite you to explore the full report and join us in the conversations ahead as we work together to advance Africa-led approaches to media sustainability, policy reform, and more equitable funding support.

ACCESS THE FULL REPORT

Main Funding Trends

Highly uneven distribution: Although 326 programmes were mapped, more than 60% of funding is concentrated in Zambia, Nigeria, and Mozambique, leaving widening gaps in Central Africa and parts of the Sahel.
Thematic concentration: Democracy, human rights, freedom of expression, and capacity-building dominate donor support, while emerging priorities—media sustainability, disinformation, digital innovation, and investigative journalism—remain underfunded.
Critical gaps: Journalist safety, digital rights, and gender-focused media support are severely under-resourced, a situation likely to worsen following the withdrawal of USAID.
Short-term funding models: Grants account for 93% of support, while only 1% is provided as core, flexible funding—undermining institutional resilience and long-term planning.
Implementation imbalance: Delivery is split between local (41%) and international organisations (43%), yet Africa-led organisations continue to face structural funding barriers.
Mismatch with market realities: Despite rapid growth in African media markets, ODA for media remains just 0.3% of global assistance.

Key recommendations

The report finds that media assistance in Sub-Saharan Africa remains vital but uneven, fragmented, and misaligned with today’s structural challenges. To address this, it calls for:

Greater investment in core, multi-year, and risk-tolerant funding
Stronger regional mechanisms and more programmes led by African organisations
Strategic alignment around digital rights, platform governance, AI, journalist safety, and sustainability
Improved transparency and reporting from bilateral and philanthropic funders
Integrated media support within broader governance, peacebuilding, climate, and development agendas

The report also highlights three urgent priorities:

Stabilise democracy-linked media support through coordinated donor reforms and multi-year funding
Elevate media sustainability, digital innovation, and information integrity as funding priorities
Expand pooled and blended-finance mechanisms to reduce over-reliance on single donors

You might also find relevant: