How Swiss/Angolan investor Jean-Claude Bastos’ philanthropic efforts to establish an online law library helped democratize access to the African legal system.
As a veteran private investor and entrepreneur, Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais, who holds dual citizenship in Switzerland and Angola, learned from many years of first-hand experience the unique challenges one encounters when conducting business on the African continent. As a long-time philanthropist deeply devoted to Africo-centric causes as well, Bastos de Morais was also acutely aware of the harsh socio-economic realities people of the continent faced whilst conducting the business of their day-to-day lives.
Jean-Claude Bastos’ Greatest African Investment is in Its Human Capital
Unable to ignore the stark disparities between the “haves” and the “have nots” in a place he considered home, Jean-Claude Bastos set out to find practical means to create and implement real-world, tech-based solutions designed to help Africans cope with their most pressing, basic needs such as nutrition, healthcare, clean water, and communication. However, rather than having the people of the continent become even further reliant on outside parties to provide answers and resources, Bastos felt it was imperative that African nationals should strive for independence by being not only involved in the process of improving their lot, but having ownership of it.
With a focus on fostering advances in agriculture and agribusiness, biodiversity and sustainability, digital information and communications technology, life sciences, and healthcare, in 2009, Jean-Claude Bastos established the African Innovation Foundation. A charitable organization, the AIF was instrumental in affording talented up-and-coming Africans an opportunity to become active participants in molding brighter destinies for both themselves and their continent.
Three years later, in partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the AIF debuted its annual Innovation Prize for Africa, which awarded financial prizes to participants tasked with developing “African solutions for African-led development” and “recognizes innovative breakthroughs that unlock African potential.”
“My passion for innovation and my belief that Africa’s future lies in its ability to innovate according to its socio-economic needs led to the founding of the African Innovation Foundation,” Bastos de Morais revealed in an interview with Forbes. “Our aim [was] to unleash Africa’s dormant potential and support sustainable projects that improve the lives and the future of people in Africa.”
The initial 2011 crop of IPA-winning breakthroughs were met with resounding acclaim. In recognition the following year, the African Union and UNECA passed a resolution to encourage an increasingly innovation-based society in Africa, forging a legacy of implementing emerging technology with the goal of social enhancement that continues to this day.
In Search of a World Beyond Books
However, in addition to addressing the population’s urgent physical needs, Jean-Claude Bastos focused on improving quality of life. In the wake of a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002, Angola’s complex economic and geo-political landscape remained in flux. Reliable legal redress was another resource often unavailable to members of the public.
“We had many discussions with African innovators, employees, civilians, students, parents, etc. who mentioned they did not have access to the legal system and did not know where they could easily find pertinent information on the basic laws,” Bastos explains.
To exacerbate the problem, Bastos reports as a result of ongoing political volatility, the Angolan constitution was continually being adapted to conform to changing demands. Even if access had been available to the average citizen, keeping up with revisions as many statutes changed and existing text versions became obsolete would have been nearly impossible. Additionally, from his numerous conversations, Jean-Claude Bastos gleaned that book ownership — of legal variety or otherwise — presented its own set of challenges for many Africans.
In Angola for example, stable housing was and continues to be at a premium. With demand far exceeding supply, members of the economically challenged population are frequently forced to find a change of residence — and often on short notice. Since traditionally printed books are not only expensive and difficult to come by, especially in rural regions, due to their weight and volume, they are also unwieldy to transport, thus rendering them a luxury few can afford.
Bastos learned that even for those lucky enough to own a few books, storing them was prohibitive for several practical reasons, the first being lack of space. (Bastos recalls it was not uncommon for two to three families to live together in the confined quarters of makeshift housing.) There were also a host of detrimental environmental factors to be dealt with. Even conscientious attempts at book preservation were easily undermined by extreme heat and humidity, not to mention the threat of destructive vermin, such as termites and cockroaches for whom printed matter is, unfortunately, an excellent food source.
Jean-Claude Bastos: Putting the Law in the Hands of the People
While book ownership was untenable for a great number of Africans, Jean-Claude Bastos observed that the majority of people with whom he came in contact did have mobile phones and could avail themselves to a growing number of WiFi spots. Whether or not it came to him in a light-bulb moment, as a devoted advocate for the advancement of communication technology, the idea of creating a digital law library platform was born.
With the goal of giving free access to the law by digitizing content and making it publically available to all, following in the footsteps of the African Innovation Foundation, in 2013, Jean-Claude Bastos’ philanthropic interests launched and funded the African Law Library. As Bastos told Forbes, “The true worth of any technological breakthrough lies in its ability to be adapted and shared with end users where it is most needed. Technology should be a universal enabler for increased quality of life, not a monopoly or a get-rich-quick scheme.”
While some might rightly argue facts acquired via the internet cannot be relied on as accurate without verification, no one can deny that the advent of online libraries and trustworthy information portals has democratized information by making vital texts once accessible to a select few broadly available to a worldwide audience. And, as anyone with an e-reader can attest, the appeal of having a seemingly endless array of literature — be it fact or fiction — literally at your fingertips and in a portable format is a technological Pandora’s Box that once opened, can never be closed… nor should it be.
“We wanted to make sure that all Africans have access to information so they can know their rights,” says Bastos. “Informed Africans are less vulnerable to manipulation and can defend themselves.” The African Law Library serves as a shining example of putting the power of knowledge into the hands of the people who need it most.