HRF grants four African projects in Q1 2025

The Human Rights Foundation has awarded $800,000 worth of Bitcoin grants to support global freedom tech initiatives, with several projects focused on Africa.

In the first quarter of the year, the foundation disbursed 1 billion satoshis (equivalent to 10 bitcoins) through its Bitcoin Development Fund. Out of the 23 projects that received funding, four are specifically focused on Africa.

Quick facts 

• The HRF is a nonprofit established to fight against instances of human rights abuse around the world.  
• Given Bitcoin’s decentralized nature, the organization supports builders and projects working to improve the cryptocurrency’s infrastructure. 
• Its major medium for providing this support is the Bitcoin Development Fund established in 2020 to cement bitcoin’s place as a useful tool for human rights activists, nonprofits and journalists. 

The details 

• In the latest round of grants, four African projects raked in undisclosed amounts of bitcoin from the HRF between January and March. 
• The African Bitcoin Institute (ABI), based in Rwanda and supported by Rwandan activist Anaise Kanimba, alongside the Kenya-based Bitcoin Babies program, which focuses on financial literacy and infant nutrition education, received funding as part of this round of grants.
• Bitsacco, a Kenya-based savings and credit firm, also received a grant. Bitsacco uses Bitcoin and a community-based custody model to improve access to savings and loan services in rural areas.
• The fourth African project to receive a grant is The Core, led by Felix Mukungu. The project aims to provide hands-on training in crypto self-custody, Lightning wallets, and Bitcoin nodes to people in Kenya.
• Some of the other global firms that benefited from the grant are NetBlocks, TollGate, Vinteum, BTCPay Server, Rkrux and Elsat. 

Key quote 

• The HRF’s release announcing the grantees read: 

“The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is pleased to announce 1 billion satoshis of gifts from its Bitcoin Development Fund. HRF’s latest batch of grants supports open-source development, educational initiatives, mining decentralization, and privacy tools for activists living under authoritarian regimes across Latin America, Africa, and Asia.” 

Before now 

• The HRF, since its launch in 2020, has granted more than $7 million to projects in several countries globally. 
• Previous African recipients of the BDF grant include Bitcoin talent development firm Qala (now Btrust Builders), the African Bitcoin Conference, and the Bitcoin Innovation Hub in Uganda. 
• These African projects are mostly education and community-focused rather than technical attempts to improve upon Bitcoin’s core structure.