South African Institute of Race Relations Wins Atlas Network's 2025 Africa Liberty Award

Atlas Network is proud to present the 2025 Africa Liberty Award to the South African Institute of Race Relations. The award was accepted by Makone Maja at Africa Liberty Forum 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Africa Liberty Award is part of the Templeton Freedom Award prize program sponsored by Templeton Religion Trust—named for the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton. In addition to Latin America, the program sponsors awards in Europe, Asia, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East and North Africa. Its grand prize, the Templeton Freedom Award, is presented annually at Atlas Network’s Liberty Forum and Freedom Dinner in New York City.

With one-third of South Africa’s workforce being unemployed and half of the population living in poverty, the South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR) launched its Champions for Growth Project, the opening phase of a thought leadership initiative aimed at boosting economic growth and cutting unemployment rates across the country. Through eight policy papers, each focused on a particular theme, the project set out the central tenets of a free-market reform platform that counters the collectivist approach of South Africa’s most prominent policymakers. Beyond the policy community, the IRR is fighting a battle of ideas by reaching mass audiences, launching its own media platform—the Daily Friend—while leveraging the existing digital media landscape to reach millions of South Africans. The IRR’s mission to promote the Champions for Growth Project and collaborate with national ministers has elevated the profile of economic growth in South African discourse, with the country’s ruling coalition (the Government of National Unity) even listing economic growth as a top priority in its own platform—an encouraging sign of progress. For the first time ever, South African ministers are now proposing free-market reforms that align with IRR’s own proposals, while the media criticism of government overreach spreads far and wide.

This year's finalists also included Africa Centre for Entrepreneurship and Youth Empowerment (Ghana) and Liberty Sparks (Tanzania).

“In some of the world’s poorest countries, the African freedom movement is giving hope to the continent and the rest of the world, and this is especially true in Ghana, South Africa, and Tanzania,” said Atlas Network CEO Brad Lips. “Freedom champions in these three countries are not only reinventing public policy research and advocacy, but leveraging their new discoveries by engaging directly and daily with local communities. They are redefining excellence for the think tank community by working with local constituents on the ground and making sure that those in power understand their concerns. Every step of the way, think tanks and civil society organizations are taking their local expertise and harnessing it to reach the halls of government, ushering in key policy reforms. Because of their relentless efforts, countries like Ghana, South Africa, and Tanzania are getting closer and closer to the freedom and free-market prosperity that is proven to lift millions of people out of poverty.”