Atlas Network is pleased to announce our three finalists for the 2025 Africa Liberty Award, which honors the region’s most outstanding policy accomplishments championing individual rights and economic freedom. The finalists for this year’s award are Ghana’s Africa Centre for Entrepreneurship and Youth Empowerment (ACEYE); Tanzania’s Liberty Sparks; and the South African Institute of Race Relations.
The award winner will be announced at Africa Liberty Forum, which will be held from July 31st to August 1st in Nairobi, Kenya. The event will be hosted by Atlas Network in collaboration with Students For Liberty. More information can be found here.
The three Africa Liberty Award finalists are listed below:
Africa Centre for Entrepreneurship and Youth Empowerment (Ghana)
To address the government barriers to entrepreneurship and economic growth in Ghana, ACEYE releases the “Regional Entrepreneurship Freedom Index,” an annual study ranking the country’s 16 regions based on key indicators affecting entrepreneurs—from “Trade Freedom” to “Property Rights.” The study also provides region-specific recommendations for reforming the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. On behalf of small business owners and other entrepreneurs, ACEYE has broadened its stakeholder engagement to educate policymakers and the general public about the opportunities and obstacles facing the business community, such as by hosting regular Regional Entrepreneurship Policy Dialogues. To build wider awareness, ACEYE held meetings at global embassies, mounting diplomatic pressure from the international community on the incumbent government for necessary reforms and engaging government authorities like the Office of the Vice President to continue a national dialogue. From ministries to regulatory bodies and government agencies, ACEYE engaged with more than 250 key stakeholders, equipping policymakers with concrete ideas for actionable reforms across Ghana’s 16 regions.
South African Institute of Race Relations
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.
Liberty Sparks (Tanzania)
To secure land rights for women in Tanzania, Liberty Sparks’ “Ardhi Yangu, Maisha Yangu” (“My Land, My Life”) project addresses the systemic challenges that women face within the country’s land governance system. From insufficient access to legal representation to the high cost of filing cases and cultural resistance to women-owned property, various burdens have undermined women’s property rights and often left them destitute, unable to participate in the economy. Compiling research, engaging with local women, and expanding their access to legal representation for land disputes, the “My Land, My Life” project promoted justice for all by facilitating women’s access to land for economic empowerment. Liberty Sparks hosted 11 workshops and a major conference involving government agencies, religious leaders, and the business community to raise awareness, with the sessions helping increase the number of women seeking legal support to fight for their land rights. Along the way, Liberty Sparks trained 60 paralegals, who were instrumental in resolving 227 land disputes and empowering women to assert their property rights. The project also made a policy impact, including the establishment of land clinics in 22 regions, serving nearly 36,000 citizens and resolving thousands more land disputes nationwide—a pivotal step in facilitating women’s access to land for economic empowerment.
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 Africa, the program sponsors awards in Asia, Europe, 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 & Freedom Dinner in New York City. This year, the prize program will award $270,000 in grants to high-achieving organizations that make innovative contributions to economic freedom and human progress.
“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.”