Citizen's engagement and innovative data use for Africa's development (DataCipation-II) - African Union communications strategy and implementation

As a joint AU-German Government initiative, the GIZ project “Citizen Engagement and Innovative Data Use for Africa’s Development (DataCipation II)” aimed to strengthen engagement between AU Organs, Regional Economic Communities, Member States and citizens by leveraging data as well as digital and non-digital approaches for good governance and development. Activities focused on three interrelated action areas:

• strengthening cooperation between AU Member States and the African digital innovation system;
• leveraging participatory, inclusive and innovative communication opportunities for African citizens; and
• fostering multi-stakeholder dialogue on good governance in digital contexts.

The project supported cooperation with the African Union Commission, in particular the Information and Communication Directorate of the African Union Commission (AU ICD). Core activities included the development and implementation of communication formats enabling participatory, inclusive and creative citizen engagement in line with the AU brand identity, as well as capacity development for AU staff on interactive communication tools and methodologies.

While the need to communicate policies and engage stakeholders in policy processes cut across all thematic policy areas, it was particularly relevant for AU flagship initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The AfCFTA aimed to create a continental African market for goods, services and investment and constituted a core element of AU Agenda 2063. Under the same contract, the GIZ Support Project to the AfCFTA was therefore supported through professional communication services.

Over the four-year implementation period, the project evolved beyond the originally envisaged communication support. In addition to developing new citizen-facing communication formats and strengthening AU communication capacities, the team provided continuous strategic, editorial, digital, multilingual and operational communication support to AU ICD, the AfCFTA programme and several other GIZ-AU programme components.