In Sub Saharan Africa, many archives are still held by private families, businesses, and local caretakers, digitizing private heritage holdings in Africa presents significant ethical and licensing issues. Copyright complications and opposition to free, open licenses, which are seen as exploitative or inappropriate for local contexts and do not meet the realities of the region culturally, frequently impede efforts to make these resources available. In order to support the demand for more context-sensitive licensing frameworks, this lecture (study) analyzes the ethical conflicts and licensing bottlenecks in this regions using case studies from Nigeria and Sudan. Additionally, it urges open platforms and foundations to review licensing methods, deal with underlying biases, and fund extensive awareness campaigns specifically designed for African communities.

The roundtable "Decolonising Knowledge on Wikipedia" aims to contribute to inclusivity in the Wikimedia projects by interrogating our practices, structures, and sources and critically highlighting power dynamics. This roundtable involves current Wikimedia projects and initiatives already focusing on decolonising knowledge, it triggers a broader discussion and collects experiences, examples and recommendations to expand and scale those practices.