Africa Check

Africa Check
Name	Africa Check
Type	Non-profit fact‑checking organisation
Founded	2012
Location	Johannesburg, South Africa
Area served	Africa

Africa Check is a non-profit fact‑checking organisation based in Johannesburg that evaluates claims made by public figures, media outlets, and organisations across the African continent. It examines assertions about public policy, public health, elections, and development by cross‑referencing primary sources, official statistics, and expert analyses. The organisation aims to improve public debate and media accountability through transparent verification, corrections, and public reporting.

History

Africa Check was established in 2012 amid rising public interest in media accuracy following high‑profile coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, debates around the 2010s Arab Spring, and ongoing scrutiny of political discourse in countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya. Early work included verification of statements by politicians from the African National Congress and analyses of statistics from agencies like the Statistics South Africa and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Over the 2010s the organisation expanded from a single office in Johannesburg to projects addressing misinformation in French‑ and Arabic‑speaking countries such as Senegal and Morocco, and developed training programmes for journalists affiliated with outlets like the BBC, Al Jazeera, and AFP.

Mission and Activities

The stated mission focuses on improving public knowledge and encouraging evidence‑based discussion involving actors such as the World Health Organization, the African Union, and national ministries in countries including Ghana, Uganda, and Ethiopia. Activities include publishing fact checks on claims by politicians from parties like the Economic Freedom Fighters and the People's Democratic Party (Nigeria), assessing data from institutions such as the United Nations and the World Bank, and running media literacy workshops with organisations like Rest of World and university centres such as the London School of Economics and the University of Cape Town.

Methodology and Fact‑Checking Process

Africa Check employs a transparent methodology that cites sources including national statistical agencies, peer‑reviewed studies in journals like The Lancet and Nature, and official reports from bodies such as the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations Children's Fund. The process typically involves claim selection (monitoring outlets such as SABC, The Daily Nation, and Vanguard Newspapers), sourcing primary evidence from ministries (for example, the South African Department of Health), consulting subject experts at institutions like Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University, and publishing findings with an explicit verdict. Editorial standards reference industry codes developed by networks such as the International Fact‑Checking Network and practices common to organisations like PolitiFact and Full Fact.

Notable Investigations and Impact

Noteworthy investigations have scrutinised healthcare claims during outbreaks such as the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa and assertions about vaccination rates cited by ministries in Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Other investigations challenged statistics used in debates on crime in South Africa and unemployment figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (Nigeria). Africa Check's findings have prompted corrections in media outlets including Mail & Guardian, influenced parliamentary questions in legislatures like the National Assembly of South Africa, and been cited by researchers at centres such as the Brookings Institution and the Overseas Development Institute. Its work has also intersected with electoral processes, as during fact‑checking of claims around the 2019 Nigerian general election and the 2020 Ghanaian general election.

Funding and Organizational Structure

The organisation operates as a non‑profit with funding from a mix of foundations and philanthropic entities, including international donors such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, foundations connected to media development like the Open Society Foundations, and project grants from agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme. Governance involves a board of directors drawn from academic and media institutions including representatives with ties to University of Oxford, University of Cape Town, and independent journalism networks. Operational teams are organised by country desks and thematic units—public health, economics, and elections—working with freelance reporters and regional editors in cities like Lagos, Nairobi, and Dakar.

Reception and Criticism

Africa Check has been praised by media organisations such as Reuters and advocacy groups like Transparency International for raising standards of public discourse and promoting source‑based reporting. Critics, including some politicians and commentators in outlets like The Herald (Zimbabwe) and partisan bloggers, have accused the organisation of selective scrutiny or bias when checks challenge high‑profile claims by parties such as the Democratic Alliance (South Africa) or the All Progressives Congress (Nigeria). Academic assessments note the difficulties of verifying claims where data from agencies like the World Health Organization or national ministries are incomplete, and scholars at institutions such as University College London and Stanford University have called for clearer dispute mechanisms with subjects of checks.

Partnerships and Collaborations

Africa Check collaborates with international fact‑checking networks, media organisations including CNN and The Guardian, research institutes like the African Population and Health Research Center, and press freedom groups including Reporters Without Borders. It partners with universities for capacity building—examples include programmes with Makerere University and Cheikh Anta Diop University—and works with civic tech initiatives and data projects such as those associated with the Open Data Institute and DataKind to improve data access and analysis.

Category:Fact-checking organizations