This talk covers the tips & tricks, code and community-sourcing openAFRICA.net - the largest independent repository of open data on the African continent - used in order to digitise deadwood to give citizens actionable information. Data availability in many African countries is dismal. Files upon files of important government information lays gaining dust in abandoned storage rooms. On the other hand, journalists and citizens need this information to keep governments in check and ensure they are receiving the right services. So how do you turn paper-based government archives into machine-readable & API accessible digital files?