We are excited to introduce the 16 inaugural fellows of the African Wikipedian Alliance (AWA) Fellowship 2025, powered by Code for Africa (CfA) in partnership with institutions including the Norwegian Embassy of Foreign Affairs, Digital Democracy Initiatives, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The fellowship runs for six months across three strategic streams: the Inclusion & Climate Justice Fellowship, the Digitalise Youth Fellowship, and the SRIEWA Fellowship (Strengthening Resilient Information Ecosystems in West Africa). This year’s cohort will advance inclusion, digital civic literacy, and resilient information ecosystems through targeted projects on Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons.
About the African Wikipedian Alliance
The African Wikipedian Alliance (AWA) is a Code for Africa network of 373 African Wikimedians from Anglophone and Francophone countries. Our continental community of change-makers works collaboratively to strengthen information integrity by creating, editing, verifying, and fact-checking content across Wikimedia projects, helping to counter deliberate distortions and improve the quality of information available about Africa.
Fellowship streams and fellows
- Digitalise Youth Fellowship: Fellows in this stream will bridge content gaps on digital governance, e-democracy, cybersecurity and personal data protection, digital mobilisation in social movements, SDG16, freedom of expression, and human rights across the Sahel, West Africa, and the Horn of Africa. The fellows include: Muib Shefiu; Faisal Ali; Blessing Sarmantha; Konan N’da N’dri; Barakat Adegboye; And Bile̠ Rene.
- Inclusion and Climate Justice Fellowship :This stream focuses on inclusive knowledge and improved coverage of gender equity, LGBTQ+ rights, and climate justice in Southern Africa and neighbouring countries. The fellows include Chinonso Chidi; Rhoda James; Vololonirina Marie Ella; and Abdel Karim.
- Strengthening Resilient Information Ecosystems in West Africa (SRIEWA): This fellowship strengthens information ecosystems in West Africa with a focus on governance, civic responsibilities, political empowerment, and participation in Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal (Wikipedia & Wikidata). Fellows include: Tryphene Douo; Aristide Kouamé; Emmanuel Menney; Yoro Louty Doriane; Johnson Jémuèle; and Coulibaly Abdoul-Rahim
Early progress and what’s next?
Over the past three months, the fellows have rolled out targeted training, edit sprints, community outreach, and evidence-based content interventions, producing more than 900 articles, media uploads, and Wikidata items created, improved, or translated.
If you would like to participate, collaborate, or support the fellowship, please get in touch with the AWA fellows or reach out to the AWA team . Join us in congratulating and supporting this cohort as they work to make Wikimedia projects more inclusive, accurate, and useful for African knowledge ecosystems.
Stay tuned for monthly summaries and impact stories on the AWA Fellows report page.
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