{"id":85296,"date":"2026-02-18T19:48:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T19:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty"},"modified":"2026-02-19T09:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:04:49","slug":"lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty","title":{"rendered":"Lekeelekee Pioneers Africa&#8217;S Digital Sovereignty"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Eswatini. <\/strong> <\/span><b>Nigeria has unveiled a new social networking service called LekeeLekee, created by the team behind ARISE and THISDAY media group, with its launch officially announced on February 2. Marketed as a homegrown alternative to major international platforms, it focuses on promoting digital independence, economic opportunity, and governance shaped by the community.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The developers of LekeeLekee present the platform as a solution to Africa\u2019s dependence on social media services controlled by American and Chinese firms. They contend that this dependence exposes African users to foreign rules, algorithms, and monetisation models. LekeeLekee aims to offer a homegrown option that aligns with the continent\u2019s own priorities and cultural valu<\/p>\n<p>A key aspect of LekeeLekee is its revenue model, designed to enable content creators and businesses to earn directly from their contributions. This system seeks to tackle the difficulties African creators often face with limited or restrictive payment structures on foreign-owned social media platforms.<\/p>\n<p>LekeeLekee plans to implement content moderation guidelines specifically suited to African contexts. Its creators argue that policies developed in places like Silicon Valley or Beijing do not always reflect the continent\u2019s cultural and political realities. By creating its own framework, the platform seeks to meet local requirements while remaining connected to a global audience.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond its practical use, LekeeLekee is positioned as a step toward decreasing Africa\u2019s reliance on foreign technology corporations. Supporters believe that greater digital independence could enhance the continent\u2019s influence in international tech discussions and foster increased innovation throughout Africa.<\/p>\n<p>LekeeLekee joins a history of African social media ventures. South Africa\u2019s Mxit, a major platform in the 2000s, closed in 2015 after being overtaken by WhatsApp and Facebook. Another South African creation, 2go, developed by Alan Wolff and Ashley Peter, gained popularity among young users in the early 2010s but eventually declined. More recently, telecom-supported platforms like Ayoba, developed by MTN Group in South Africa, have attracted millions by combining messaging, music, and localized services, reaching 35 million monthly active users as of December 2023.<\/p>\n<p>The GSMA reports that in 2024, 416 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa about 28% of the population used mobile internet, with projections reaching 576 million, or 33%, by 2030. Worldwide, social media users numbered 5.66 billion as of October 2025, according to DataReportal. In comparison, Africa had 384 million social media users in 2022, its most recent continental figure, illustrating a growing but relatively smaller share of the global digital market. Within this context of rapid growth, LekeeLekee embodies Africa\u2019s drive to take control of its own digital destiny.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Eswatini<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Eswatini. Nigeria has unveiled a new social networking service called LekeeLekee, created by the team behind ARISE and THISDAY media group, with its launch officially announced on February 2. Marketed as a homegrown alternative to major international platforms, it focuses on promoting digital independence, economic opportunity, and governance shaped by the community. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":85295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[249],"class_list":["post-85296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-eswatini"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lekeelekee Pioneers Africa&#039;S Digital Sovereignty - Eswatini<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Eswatini. Nigeria has unveiled a new ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lekeelekee Pioneers Africa&#039;S Digital Sovereignty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Eswatini. Nigeria has unveiled a new ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eswatini\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T19:48:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-19T09:04:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1771447626.081714.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1586\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"890\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Lekeelekee Pioneers Africa&#8217;S Digital Sovereignty\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-18T19:48:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-19T09:04:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty\"},\"wordCount\":431,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1771447626.081714.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Eswatini\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty\",\"name\":\"Lekeelekee Pioneers Africa'S Digital Sovereignty - Eswatini\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1771447626.081714.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-18T19:48:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-19T09:04:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"-article-header-tag\\\"> Africa-Press - Eswatini. Nigeria has unveiled a new ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1771447626.081714.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1771447626.081714.jpg\",\"width\":1586,\"height\":890,\"caption\":\"Lekeelekee Pioneers Africa'S Digital Sovereignty\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lekeelekee Pioneers Africa&#8217;S Digital Sovereignty\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/\",\"name\":\"Eswatini\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lekeelekee Pioneers Africa'S Digital Sovereignty - Eswatini","description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Eswatini. Nigeria has unveiled a new ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lekeelekee Pioneers Africa'S Digital Sovereignty","og_description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Eswatini. Nigeria has unveiled a new ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty","og_site_name":"Eswatini","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-02-18T19:48:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-19T09:04:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1586,"height":890,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1771447626.081714.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Lekeelekee Pioneers Africa&#8217;S Digital Sovereignty","datePublished":"2026-02-18T19:48:50+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-19T09:04:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty"},"wordCount":431,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1771447626.081714.jpg","keywords":["Eswatini"],"articleSection":["all news","miscellaneous"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty","name":"Lekeelekee Pioneers Africa'S Digital Sovereignty - Eswatini","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1771447626.081714.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-18T19:48:50+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-19T09:04:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Eswatini. Nigeria has unveiled a new ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1771447626.081714.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1771447626.081714.jpg","width":1586,"height":890,"caption":"Lekeelekee Pioneers Africa'S Digital Sovereignty"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/lekeelekee-pioneers-africas-digital-sovereignty#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lekeelekee Pioneers Africa&#8217;S Digital Sovereignty"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/","name":"Eswatini","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}