A 15-Year-Old Built a Crowdsourced Database of Laws Killing African Business

A 15-year-old student built africastupidlaws.org, a crowdsourced database mapping and pushing to repeal outdated anti-business laws stifling entrepreneurship across Africa.

A 15-Year-Old Built a Crowdsourced Database of Laws Killing African Business A 15-year-old student built africastupidlaws.org, a crowdsourced database mapping and pushing to repeal outdated anti-business laws stifling entrepreneurship across Africa. Aaron Rafferty March 28, 2026 Key Takeaways: A 15-year-old student built africastupidlaws.org , a crowdsourced platform mapping outdated and anti-business laws across Africa that stifle innovation and entrepreneurship. Entrepreneur and advocate Magatte Wade highlighted the project as a youth-led movement against bureaucratic barriers that suppress economic growth across the continent. The database functions as a grassroots policy-impact tool, allowing citizens to identify, document, and push for repeal of regulations that block business formation and market entry. The most consequential regulatory database in Africa right now was built by a 15-year-old. Africastupidlaws.org is a crowdsourced platform where citizens across the continent identify and document laws that prevent people from starting businesses, entering markets, or growing enterprises. Entrepreneur Magatte Wade, who has spent years advocating for regulatory reform as a barrier to African prosperity, highlighted the project this week as evidence that the movement against anti-business regulation is accelerating from the ground up. — (@) The laws catalogued on the site are specific. Import restrictions that triple the cost of basic goods. Licensing requirements that take months and cost more than the average annual income to obtain. Regulations that protect incumbent businesses from competition while blocking new entrants. Each entry is mapped by country, documented by the community, and framed as a candidate for repeal. The pattern is familiar to anyone wat