The legal-tech ventures backed by the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law’s Africa accelerator in 2016 were built around a single insight that still holds: technology closes access-to-justice gaps fastest when it’s simple, SMS and radio rather than complex apps, and aimed at the specific communities locked out of formal legal systems.
Access to justice remains a scale problem
Billions of people worldwide still lack meaningful access to justice, and the gap is widest in exactly the communities, rural, informal, low-income, that formal legal services were never designed to reach cheaply. The startups selected for HiiL’s 2016 accelerator, spanning business registration support, community radio-based paralegal training, SMS-based rights reporting and affordable legal services for SMEs, each targeted a different piece of that gap.
Why simple tech outperformed complex platforms
Community radio, trained local paralegals and basic SMS reporting tools proved more effective at reaching under-served communities than sophisticated apps built for smartphone-heavy, connected markets. The lesson generalised well beyond legal tech: in markets with patchy connectivity, the simplest interface that solves the real problem usually wins over the most polished one.
What’s changed since 2016
Legal-tech accelerators across Africa have multiplied since this cohort, with more programmes now specifically targeting SME-focused legal services, contract management and compliance tools rather than only rights-awareness campaigns. The affordability gap for small business legal services that ventures like these targeted remains a live, unsolved problem for most African SMEs, one South Africa’s own Department of Justice and Constitutional Development continues to work on through legal-aid access programmes.
Frequently asked questions
What problem were these 2016 legal-tech startups solving?
Lack of affordable access to legal services and rights information, particularly in rural and low-income African communities.
Why did simple technology like SMS outperform complex apps?
In markets with limited smartphone and internet access, simple tools reach far more people than sophisticated platforms.
What organisation backed this legal-tech cohort?
The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL), which ran an Africa-focused legal innovation accelerator.
Is affordable legal tech for SMEs still a gap in Africa?
Yes. Affordable contract and compliance support for small businesses remains a largely unsolved problem across the continent.
Has legal-tech investment in Africa grown since 2016?
Yes, more accelerators and programmes have since emerged, with a growing focus on SME-facing legal and compliance tools.
Further reading
Originally published in September 2016. Updated September 2026 to confirm the affordability gap these 2016 startups targeted remains largely unsolved, even as more legal-tech accelerators have since launched.
