Coverage of Wikimania Nairobi: From East Africa to the World

The impact of Wikimania Nairobi has gone far beyond the event itself. Held from August 6 to 9, the conference brought together more than 2,676 participants from over 135 countries, including 776 in-person and over 1,900 online. Several weeks later, the effects of Wikimania continue to ripple through our movement.

So far, the 20th edition of Wikimania has been featured in more than 100 stories across community platforms (with more still trickling in!) and international media outlets. In case you missed them, catch up with this curated reading list.

Wikimania Nairobi in Movement News

Wikimania didn’t really end with the closing ceremony; in many ways, that’s when many stories began. Attendees have already shared more than 25 articles reflecting on what they learned, the excitement of being with other Wikimedians, discovering Nairobi, and the connections they have carried home.

Through the Eyes of First-Timers 

Wikimania brought together Wikimedians across generations, for some it was their 20th Wikimania and for about half the conference it was their very first Wikimania:

• Read the impressions shared by Wikimedians from Benin, Bolivia, Congo, East, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Gambia, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Peru, Uzbekistan, and Zanzibar.

“Wikimania taught me that even if we come from small countries, our stories, languages, and contributions matter to the world.” – Gayo Bah, Wikimedian from Gambia

Pre-conference for users with extended rights 

For the first time in Wikimania’s history, over 100 users with extended rights (those users behind the scenes keeping our wikis safe and running) came together at a pre-conference event to discuss safety, privacy, and the tools they use: 

• My Experience Attending the First-Ever Convening of Users with Extended Rights – A Wikimedian with extended rights shares their takeaways and the moments that resonated most from the event.
  
• My Experience at Users with Extended Right Physical Gathering – Wikimania 2025, Nairobi, Kenya – Coming from a small community, Fulani215 recounts the learnings he is looking forward to applying at his home wiki.
  
• Every moment is special: My Wikimania@20 Nairobi journey – Kurmanbek, a Turkish Wikimedian, shares how he found support in other users with extended rights.

“Seeing users with such extended rights together, I was also motivated to contribute to the dark mode adaptation of the Turkish Wikipedia. I started experimenting with this at the Wikimedia Hackathon 2025 in Istanbul, but I really started doing it at Wikimania 2025 in Nairobi.”– Kurmanbek

WikiWomen* Summit

The WikiWomen* Summit returned to Wikimania with a packed agenda. Read about the experience of a Japanese Wikimedian, explore visions for the future of the Summit, and an organizer’s point of view.

“It was a great pleasure to be able to speak directly in Nairobi with people from various countries whose names I only knew through chat.” – Wadakuramon

Learning from African communities

As the first Wikimania held in East Africa, Wikimania Nairobi provided a space for participants to hear and engage directly with African communities. From Nigeria to Côte d’Ivoire, Wikimedians shared how they’re using Wikimedia projects to preserve languages, celebrate cultures, and grow participation in open knowledge.

• An Armenian Wikimedian talks about discovering Africa’s Wikimedia communities and just how inspiring their work across projects turned out to be.
  
• Highlights from the jam-packed workshop on “Enhancing Climate Justice & Environmental Data Mapping through Open Knowledge,” led by Code for Africa and the African Wikipedian Alliance.

“Although I knew Africa’s Wikimedia communities were active, nothing could have prepared me for the scale and passion I witnessed in Nairobi. From Uganda to Nigeria to Ghana, Wikimedians showcased their work in cultural heritage, libraries, museums, and digitization projects.” – Mari Avetisyan

The Projects 

• Behind the scenes of the Million Wiki Project presentation at Wikimania 2025, a project looking to create one million new contributions and content pieces on Wikimedia projects about the Middle East and North Africa region.
  
• WikiÁrboles, an initiative that showcases Peru’s natural heritage, was well represented at Wikimania by scholar Guillermo Carlos Gomez.

• Recap of the discussions about the integrity of information on climate change in Wikimedia projects.
  
• Learning about SPARQL and Wikifunctions at Wikimania 2025.
  
• If you’ve ever asked yourself how to get more out of traveling to Wiki conferences, Bolivian Wikimedian Carla Salazar shares her approach of using the journey to create new content for Wikipedia.

“Este año, gracias a mi primera beca de participación, tuve la oportunidad de asistir a Wikimania 2025 en Nairobi, Kenia, donde presenté un póster sobre WikiÁrboles. La experiencia fue retadora: por momentos me sentí fuera de lugar, ya que muchas personas asistían en grupos y conociéndose previamente.A pesar de los retos, me llevo la convicción de que proyectos como WikiÁrboles tienen un lugar en el movimiento Wikimedia.” – Guillermo Carlos Gomez

Wikichoir 

A backstage look at the WikiChoir’s performance and preparation for singing Kenyan songs at Wikimania 2025. 

Virtual experience

Wikimania 2025 recaps from the virtual seat of Wikimedian Andikan Efiok Eduok, and Wikimedians from the Philippines, who gathered insights from different communities and are planning to apply them to their local context.

Wikimania Nairobi in the News media

Parallel community coverage, international media published over 85 stories that showed the global impact of the conference, Africa’s growing role in the knowledge movement, and the collaborative efforts behind the Wikimedia projects.

Wikimania was covered across the world, including Cameroon, India, Kenya, Nigeria, the Netherlands, South Africa, Singapore, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, with more stories popping up in pan-African media. Many featured interviews with volunteers, Wikimedians of the Year, and spokespeople. 

One of them, Bobby Shabangu, President of Wikimedia South Africa spoke about the opportunity for growth in sharing knowledge about Africa: “Over the years, we have realized that most Africans consume online content, but only a few contribute to the online knowledge. The African community should know that they can contribute freely towards online knowledge,” he shared.

“This year’s Wikimania reflected the heart of our mission: inclusivity, impact, and sustainability. East Africa’s leadership in hosting this milestone event sets a powerful example of how local knowledge and global collaboration can transform how the world shares and accesses information” – Maryana Iskander, CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation

All the stories sprouting from Wikimania Nairobi contributed to growing the visibility, understanding, and reputation of the Wikimedia movement and the projects it supports. We thank everyone who helped make Wikimania 2025 such a widely talked-about conference. We look forward to another unforgettable Wikimania in Paris next July!