Reference
Policies
Access African laws, policy documents, lifecycle events, and country policy timelines through one searchable API.
African Policy Data API
Use Africa API to track laws, policy documents, and lifecycle events through one searchable policy layer across African countries.
This page is the best starting point for:
- country policy overviews
- active law and document lists
- policy detail records
- policy timelines and policy events
Policies In Africa API
Current source:
wikidata_policies
Use:
GET /v1/policiesGET /v1/policies/eventsGET /v1/policies/country/{country_code}GET /v1/policies/country/{country_code}/timelineGET /v1/policies/{policy_wikidata_id}GET /v1/policies/{policy_wikidata_id}/events
What This Covers
The first policies slice is built around:
- constitutions
- laws and acts
- regulations and decrees
- national strategies and policy documents
- country policy overviews
- policy adoption, implementation, and repeal timelines
- issuing-body metadata when available
This is intentionally separate from scalar indicator data and election-event data.
Country Policy Overview Example
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/policies/country/ke?top_limit=5" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Example response shape:
{
"data": {
"country": {
"code": "ke",
"name": "Kenya",
"region": "East Africa"
},
"latest_policy": {
"wikidata_id": "Q456",
"country_code": "ke",
"country_name": "Kenya",
"title": "Kenya Climate Change Act",
"document_type": "law",
"policy_status": "active",
"published_at": "2016-05-27",
"source": "wikidata_policies"
},
"active_policy_count": 14,
"recent_policies": []
}
}Policy List Example
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/policies?country_code=ng&document_type=law&status=active&limit=20" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Policy Detail Example
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/policies/Q456" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Country Policy Timeline Example
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/policies/country/ke/timeline?top_limit=10" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Example response shape:
{
"data": {
"country": {
"code": "ke",
"name": "Kenya",
"region": "East Africa"
},
"latest_event": {
"event_key": "Q456:implemented:2016-06-01",
"policy_wikidata_id": "Q456",
"title": "Kenya Climate Change Act",
"document_type": "law",
"event_type": "implemented",
"event_date": "2016-06-01",
"summary": "Kenya Climate Change Act entered into force",
"source": "wikidata_policies"
},
"recent_events": []
}
}Policy Events Example
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/policies/events?country_code=ng&event_type=adopted&limit=20" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"How It Fits The Government Domain
- Government covers leaders, terms, and cabinets
- Elections covers election events and result rows
Policiescovers legal and policy documents produced by the state plus their lifecycle events- country profiles embed the latest policy and latest policy event inside the compact
governmentblock