Dagbani Wikimedians User Group and Mabia Communities Advance Indigenous Language Content at AfroCuration 2026

The Dagbani Wikipedians User Group, together with the Mabia language communities, participated in the 2026 AfroCuration article writing contest organized by the Global Open Initiative Foundation (GOIF). This marked the second consecutive year that the user group has taken part in the initiative, reaffirming its commitment to expanding free knowledge in Ghanaian indigenous languages through Wikimedia projects. AfroCuration 2026 was held under the theme “Advancing African Culture Through Traditional Ghanaian Music, Symbols, and Digital Language Innovations.” The program combined weeks of online collaboration with a two-day conference that brought together Wikimedia volunteers, language advocates, academics, students, and researchers to explore the role of indigenous languages in preserving African cultural heritage in the digital age.

Preparatory activities

Preparations for the contest began several weeks before the official launch. GOIF organized an orientation meeting with representatives of the participating language communities to provide an overview of the program, outline expectations, and coordinate activities across the different language groups. As the Dagbani Co-Lead, I represented the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group at the meeting alongside the leads of the Dagaare, Kusaal, Gurene, and Moore language communities. The meeting provided an opportunity for community leaders to discuss implementation strategies and strengthen collaboration ahead of the contest. Following the orientation, GOIF organized a series of online training sessions for participating communities. These sessions introduced both experienced editors and newcomers to Wikipedia editing practices, article translation, referencing, and quality improvement. Within the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group, I facilitated the community training, guiding participants through the editing process and helping new contributors understand Wikipedia’s content policies and editing standards. These sessions also created an opportunity for experienced editors to mentor newcomers before the editing campaign commenced.

Article translation campaign

Interested participants registered for the contest and were each assigned two articles to translate into their respective language Wikipedias. This year’s campaign focused on documenting indigenous Ghanaian music, traditional musical instruments, cultural symbols, and notable musicians, contributing to the broader effort of preserving Ghana’s cultural heritage in local languages. Between 25 April and 25 May 2026, members of the participating language communities created and substantially improved articles across several Ghanaian languages.

The contributions included:

Dagbani: 43 articles, Gurene: 22 articles, Moore: 12 articles, Kusaal: 9 articles Dagaare: 6 articles. Collectively, the communities created and improved 92 articles. Beyond translation, contributors enhanced article quality by adding references, internal links, infoboxes, additional sections, and structured content to meet Wikipedia’s quality standards. The campaign demonstrated how collaborative editing can significantly increase the availability of culturally relevant knowledge in underrepresented African languages.

AfroCuration 2026 conference

The final phase of AfroCuration 2026 took place from 26–27 July 2026, bringing together participants from Wikimedia language communities, including Dagbani, Dagaare, Gurene, Kusaal, Moore, Ewe, and Twi. The conference served as a platform for discussions on language preservation, digital innovation, artificial intelligence, and collaborative knowledge creation.

Day One

The opening day featured welcome remarks by Miss Harriet Bayel, Executive Director of the Global Open Initiative Foundation, followed by a keynote address delivered by Professor Charles Ofosu Marfo, Provost of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). A panel discussion explored the conference theme, bringing together distinguished scholars including Dr. Faleka Victoria Ogunnike (Department of Languages and Communication Sciences), Professor Kofi Agyekum (Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana), and Professor Akwasi Adomako, vice dean of the Faculty of Ghanaian Languages Education at the University of Education, Winneba. The discussions examined how traditional Ghanaian music, indigenous symbols, and digital technologies can work together to strengthen African languages and cultural preservation. Participants also attended a presentation on Artificial Intelligence and Ghanaian Languages: Building Digital Futures in Our Mother Tongues, highlighting emerging opportunities for AI to support language documentation and digital inclusion. Additional activities included a program overview, interactive trivia sessions reflecting on the panel discussions, and a presentation on the history of Highlife music in Ghana by Mr. Eugene.

Day Two

The second day opened with a cultural performance and educational session by Nana Osei Korankyi, who demonstrated the cultural significance of the traditional Seperewa musical instrument. One of the highlights of the day was a panel discussion featuring representatives of the participating language communities. I had the opportunity to represent the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group, sharing our community’s experiences in organizing Wikimedia activities, training new editors, and expanding Dagbani-language content on Wikimedia projects. The discussion was moderated by Fuseini Mohammed Kamaldeen. Participants also attended a practical session on contributing to Wikipedia facilitated by Dnshitobu, which introduced new participants to the Wikimedia editing ecosystem. By the conclusion of the event, 37 new Wikipedia user accounts had been created, reflecting continued interest in contributing to free knowledge in Ghanaian languages. The conference concluded with networking sessions, community interactions, and group photographs, providing participants with opportunities to strengthen existing partnerships and build new collaborations across language communities.

Strengthening indigenous language communities

AfroCuration 2026 demonstrated the growing capacity of Ghanaian Wikimedia communities to collaborate across languages while documenting and preserving cultural knowledge. For the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group and the wider Mabia language communities, the program extended beyond article creation. It strengthened editor capacity, encouraged cross-community collaboration, introduced new volunteers to Wikimedia projects, and expanded freely accessible knowledge on indigenous Ghanaian music and culture. As indigenous languages continue to face challenges in the digital space, initiatives such as AfroCuration provide practical opportunities for volunteers, researchers, and language advocates to work together toward a shared goal: ensuring that African languages are not only preserved but also continue to thrive online. The Dagbani Wikimedians User Group remains committed to supporting contributors, expanding high-quality Dagbani-language content, and collaborating with other Ghanaian language communities to improve the representation of local knowledge across Wikimedia projects.