Modern Parliament (“ModParl”) is a newsletter from POPVOX Foundation that provides insights into the evolution of legislative institutions worldwide. Learn more and subscribe here.

A spotlight on Africa is long overdue here at POPVOX Foundation. We’ve been closely following developments across the continent, where legislative innovation, institutional reform, and research are reshaping the way politics works. In this issue, you’ll find:

our coverage of the first Africa Regional Conference on Parliament and Legislation (AFRIPAL),
new insights into how MPs serve their constituents, and
examples of how African parliaments are embracing technology and collaboration.

Africa is changing, and the world should be paying close attention.

Beatriz Rey, Ph.D.

AFRIPAL Sparks Legislative Innovation Across Africa

In June, 66 countries came together in Kampala to launch a bold new chapter in African lawmaking – and you’ll want to know what happened. From the creation of the African Association of Legislation to the debut of a continent-wide platform for tracking parliamentary innovation, AFRIPAL set the stage for sweeping change. POPVOX was there, leading hands-on AI training with Ugandan MPs and exploring how generative tools can boost speed, inclusion, and oversight in legislatures. We’ve pulled together the biggest insights, best quotes, and must-know developments, including an interview with Dr. Hannah Muzee, one of AFRIPAL’s visionary organizers.

Read

Who Represents Africa? Data on MPs and the Realities of Representation

We recently dove into findings from the How Members of Parliament in Africa Represent their Constituencies (HOME) project, which sheds light on who gets elected to African parliaments and how they actually serve. Focusing on Ghana and South Africa, the research reveals how electoral systems shape MPs’ behavior, how class and gender dynamics affect representation, and why personal service – like attending weddings or buying school supplies – remains central to political life.

Read

Innovation Signals in Africa

Zimbabwe: Speaker Jacob F.N. Mudenda announced an AI-powered parliamentary chatbot that will give Zimbabwean citizens instant, mobile access to constituency information, legislative processes, and civic engagement opportunities.
Côte d’Ivoire: Côte d’Ivoire’s Parliament, in partnership with the African Development Bank’s IDEV and UNICEF, convened a May 19–21 workshop to equip MPs with AI-driven tools for faster, ethical public policy evaluation—especially on children’s and youth issues.
Lusaka Digital Parliamentary Summit: the Pan-African Parliament—with APHRC and GSMA—hosted the inaugural Africa Digital Parliamentary Summit focusing on AI, data protection, digital health, and smart manufacturing, culminating in the Lusaka Declaration.
Parliaments in Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are pioneering open-government reforms under the Open Government Partnership — live-streaming debates, publishing draft laws online, and co-creating digital portals and citizen chatbots to let people track votes, submit feedback, and hold MPs to account.
Ghana’s parliament announced its Open Government Action Plan on the International Day of Parliamentarianism.

More Academic Research on Africa

A survey of MPs in 17 countries reveals that while legislators tend to be older, male, and drawn from elite professions, they still reflect their societies in terms of ethnicity and religion.
In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers have mapped two decades of legislative activity across 13 African countries, creating the continent’s most comprehensive dataset of bills and laws. The findings appear to show: in more democratic settings, legislatures debate a wider array of issues and update their legal frameworks more frequently, revealing just how much regime type shapes political priorities.

Global ModParl Developments

New Zealand parliament tests AI for explanatory notes.
Second International Congress on Open State and Governance (Oct. 7–9) call for participants announced.
Italy’s Vanity Fair profiled Vice President Ascani about the use of AI in the Italian Chamber of Deputies (Italian. Translation into English by Anthropic Claude).
Italy’s Alberto Mencarelli compares Large Language Models’ “next-token prediction” to the art of lawmaking.

Worldwide Events

July 29-31: Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments (IPU, Geneva, Switzerland)
October 1-3: Athens Democracy Forum (Athens, Greece)
October 7–9: Open Government Partnership Summit (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain)
October 6–12: 68th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (Bridgetown, Barbados)

ModParl: The Africa Edition