Bridging the digital divide: A call to funders for deafblind inclusion 

For a person who is deafblind, technology can transform isolation into connection. Yet across Africa, that bridge remains largely unbuilt. Philanthropy now faces a precise and urgent opportunity: to ensure that deafblind persons are not left behind as digital transformation accelerates. 

The numbers are stark. Across the WHO Africa Region, more than 200 million people require at least one assistive technology (AT) yet only 15–25 percent have access to them. For persons who are deafblind—who need support for both hearing and vision loss—the gap is even wider.  

A June 2025 report by CIPESA warns that persons with disabilities remain substantially excluded from information, communication, technologies (ICTs) and, as standard, inaccessible design and weak policy enforcement worsen the situation.  

Despite these barriers, African innovators are creating solutions: 

And these tools hold immense promise. But potential does not equal access. High costs, weak supply chains, lack of trained personnel, low digital literacy, and policy gaps keep them beyond the reach of many who need them.  

To tend to these oversights, philanthropy must move beyond general disability grants to targeted, technology-driven interventions for deafblind inclusion, and here are four high-impact areas that stand out: 

This journey is not one that can be taken alone, and there are many successful region-wide partnerships that funders can join or seek to emulate. These include: 

In addition, as the ADP now legally binds member states to barrier-free ICT access, philanthropy can leverage this policy window by funding coalitions of deafblind organisations. These can submit shadow reports to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and work together to name countries that fail to make e-government platforms accessible. 

In this work though, we have also seen common mistakes and here are just a few we encourage donors to watch out for: 

Instead, the African Federation of the DeafBlind urges philanthropy to: 

For a deafblind person in rural Malawi, a smartphone with a haptic Braille app is not a luxury. It is a lifeline to education, employment, and healthcare. Technology alone is never enough—but the right technology, paired with trained facilitators and enforceable policies, can be transformative. 

The bridge is waiting to be built. Funders, philanthropists, and foundations: you hold the materials. Let us build it together. 

Ezekiel Kumwenda is the former president of the African Federation of the DeafBlind  and the executive director at Malawi Union of the Blind