The 2026 Wiki Afrodemics Mentorship Programme emerges as a strategic response to the disparities identified in the third-quarter review of West African academics and scientists on Wikimedia Foundation projects. It was observed that majority of the francophone countries have little or no representation on the Wikimedia projects.
This year’s mentorship program will focus on Togo, Niger, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea-Bissau—five countries where the visibility of academics and scientists remains very low. To address these gaps, the program will host 20 participants, selected from these countries or from contributors with proven experience in producing content related to these themes. Through targeted training, mentorship, and collaborative initiatives, participants will be able to increase their contributions, promote equitable recognition of women in academia and science, and strengthen local publishing capacity.
Participants will:
- Receive structured mentorship across Wikipedia and Wikidata
- Engage in hands-on editing and guided assignments
- Participate in resource mobilisation and community development training
- Collaborate across linguistic and regional boundaries
- Contribute to improving visibility of African scholars and scientists
This selection ensures geographical and linguistic diversity while promoting inclusive participation across Wikimedia communities in Africa.
As a member of Wikimedia Côte d’Ivoire and a dedicated volunteer for the Wikimedia project, I had the opportunity to be a scholarship recipient for the Cohort 1 Mentorship Program, which ran from March to June 2026. It was within this framework that I was able to benefit from this opportunity to be a scholarship recipient for this program, which began in April 2026 and ended in June 2026. The list of scholarship recipients for the 2026 program is available.
Participants
The programme onboarded 20 participants from underrepresented African countries, with priority given to contributors working on African academics and scientists.
Mentors
The programme is supported by experienced Wikimedia contributors and community leaders who provide structured guidance, technical support, and strategic direction.
- David Palfrey is Wikimedian with over 20 years of experience in movement governance and community development. He is in charge of a one month Wikidata mentorship training.
- FuzzyMagma An experienced contributor with over a decade of work in Wikimedia training, content creation, and community engagement.
- Shefiu Muib is an active Wikimedian focused on closing content gaps related to African academics and scientists
- Blessing Ojewuyi Timothy is a wikimedia trainer and African Wiki Women member with expertise in gender gap reduction and capacity building.
Apart from that, we have been several fellows for this first cohort, several of whom come from different cultures, specifically anglophones and francophones.
For June 2026 we are ending the mentoring program for the year 2026 with new lessons learned on the main ones of Wikimedia namely Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons.
Warmest thanks to our two mentors during these three months of follow-up, listening support, training and in achieving our goals.
I look forward to participating again in the 2027 cohort in order to share my experiences and discover new skills through other training courses on Wikimedia projects.
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