The copyright law of Senegal, a francophone nation in west Africa with Least Developed Country (LDC) status, was significantly overhauled in 2008. A study by the (aca2k.org/attachments/154_Senegal%20ACA2K%20Country%20Report.pdf) African Copyright & Access to Knowledge project (ACA2K) (2009) found that the main effect of the Law is to further strengthen the protection of copyright owners with no focus on the rights of users, and concludes that the copyright environment in Senegal is not conducive to increasing legitimate access to learning materials. Under the leadership of the Consortium of Higher Educational Libraries of Senegal (COBESS), it was decided to take action to bring about the change.

In a short time, the library community was strengthened with new knowledge about the inescapable role of libraries in providing access to knowledge - the basis for all development, and new partnerships were forged with policy-makers.

The project results are described in a case study and illustrated in a project poster, one of eight EIFL-IP funded projects in 2013 for advocacy campaigns in support of copyright law reform in Africa, Asia, and Europe.