When Wikimedia Ghana User Group set out to run Wiki Loves Places 2026 in Ghana, we had a clear but ambitious goal: collect at least 250 geotagged images of places across Ghana, document 250 new place entities on Wikidata, and add or update 250 locations on OpenStreetMap. We also had a plan. What participants delivered in its place exceeded everything we hoped for.
What is Wiki Loves Places?
Wiki Loves Places is a national documentation campaign designed to improve structured, open knowledge about places in Ghana through geotagged photographs and location data. Participants contribute by capturing photos of places, uploading them to Wikimedia Commons, adding or updating structured data on Wikidata, and mapping locations on OpenStreetMap. Places can be anything: schools, clinics, markets, roads, mosques, stadiums, rivers, or a road sign at the edge of a village. The idea is simple: if a place exists, it deserves to be documented.
The campaign ran from May through to June and was open to everyone, from Wikimedia Ghana User Group community members and OpenStreetMap contributors to students, photographers, travel enthusiasts, and the general public.
The campaign officially launched on May 28, 2026, with guidance on how to capture geotagged photos and submit them using the Wikimedia Commons Upload Wizard. Participants could then contribute at their own pace, from wherever they were across Ghana.
The result was remarkable. By the time the campaign closed, 1,258 images had been uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, with approximately 1,100 with geotags – well above our initial target of 250 images.
You can view all submitted images at Category:Images from Wiki Loves Places 2026 in Ghana.
Nineteen Contributors, One Shared Goal
A total of 19 participants uploaded images to the campaign. The top contributors demonstrated not just volume but consistency and geographic coverage, documenting a wide range of places across multiple locations.
| Rank | Contributor | Photos Uploaded | Geotag Rate |
| 1 | Efo Komla | 324 | 100% |
| 2 | Pre-inz | 285 | 100% |
| 3 | Samaru Samaru | 173 | 100% |
| 4 | Dnshitobu | 133 | 98.5% |
| 5 | Mawududzi-godwyn | 101 | 100% |
| 6 | Nanakwafoa | 81 | 100% |
The top six contributors alone accounted for more than 1,097 images – and five of the six achieved a perfect geotag rate of 100%. That is a strong indicator of the quality and care participants brought to their contributions.
Support Along the Way
One of the things we got right was keeping participants supported throughout the campaign. We hosted office hours for troubleshooting, giving contributors a space to ask questions, fix upload problems, and get guidance on correctly geotagging their images. We also held an OpenStreetMap session that explored how geotagged photos on Wikimedia Commons can be used to improve data on OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, helping participants see the bigger picture of what their contributions were building toward.
These sessions mattered. Geotagging is often one of the biggest barriers for new participants, and having live support meant fewer photos fell through the cracks.
Beyond the Numbers
The 1,258 images uploaded to Wikimedia Commons are the headline figure, but the campaign’s impact goes further. Many of the places participants documented had gaps in existing open data: schools without photos, clinics missing from Wikidata, road junctions with no map data. There were gaps in the open knowledge ecosystem before participants stepped in. Each photo, properly geotagged and categorised, becomes a reference point that can be used on Wikipedia, linked from a Wikidata item, and connected to a feature on OpenStreetMap or Wikivoyage.
Ghana has thousands of documented places and thousands more that are not yet visible on any open platform. Wiki Loves Places is, at its core, an attempt to close that gap,community by community, district by district, photo by photo.
What Comes Next
We are building on the momentum. The Dagbani Wikimedians User Group and partners have continued training contributors in Wikidata and OpenStreetMap documentation, and Wikimedia Ghana User Group also organised a photo walk in partnership with Kukun in Accra to continue growing the community of contributors beyond the formal campaign period.
If this campaign has shown us anything, it is that when participants are given the right tools and a clear goal, they will go further than any road trip could have taken us.
This is not where the journey ends. There are still many places to photograph and gaps in open knowledge to fill. We will go beyond the campaign, keep contributing, documenting and bringing more people into the work of creating free knowledge for all.
Acknowledgements
Wiki Loves Places in Ghana 2026 would not have been successful without the support of all contributors, Wikimedia Ghana User Group’s staff and team, programme specialist and advisor.
Photowalk photos: Category:Wiki Loves Places 2026 Osu Photowalk – Wikimedia Commons
Explore the images from the Campaign :Category:Images from Wiki Loves Places 2026 in Ghana
Campaign page: Commons:Wiki Loves Places 2026 in Ghana
Wiki Loves Places 2026 in Ghana was organised by Wikimedia Ghana User Group. For questions or to get involved in future campaigns, visit the campaign talk page or contact us at community@wmgh.org
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