THE Africa Check on Monday announced Senegal as the host country for the 2025 Africa Facts summit billed for October 1 – 2 in Dakar.
According to the organizers, the event will bring together fact-checking organisations and experts from all parts of Africa.
A statement signed by the executive director of Africa Check, Noko Makgato, on June 30, 2025 noted that this year’s summit, which would mark the first time it would be held in a francophone country, reflects the network’s significant growth since its inception.
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Commenting on the summit, the Chief Editor of Africa Check in Senegal, Valdez Onanina, noted that hosting the fourth edition of the Africa Facts Summit in a French-speaking African country for the first time is particularly symbolic.
“It is particularly symbolic that this fourth edition of the Africa Facts Summit is being held for the first time in a French-speaking African country. This historic first comes at a pivotal moment when challenges related to disinformation and information integrity represent pressing issues for our media ecosystems.
“These problems now constitute major emergencies for the balance and stability of our African societies, making this Dakar gathering all the more strategic for strengthening our collective resilience in the face of these challenges,” Onanina said.
The statement further noted that the summit would bring together a community of diverse stakeholders in the information integrity ecosystem on the continent to explore innovative projects and advancements in fact-checking practices employed in their daily operations.
As always, the summit would include panel discussions, workshops, and show-and-tell sessions aimed at exploring both the challenges and opportunities in the continent’s joint efforts to tackle misinformation.
According to the organisers, key themes of the summit would cover investigating disinformation campaigns, the influence of artificial intelligence (AI), coalition-based response models, effective counter-strategies, misinformation in conflict zones, and region-specific solutions tailored to various parts of the continent.
Also speaking, Africa Check’s head of Outreach and Impact, Dr. Hlalani Gumpo, said the event reflects the resilience and shared commitment of partners in tackling disinformation, while also fostering knowledge exchange to deepen impact across the continent.
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She added: “Despite the challenging conditions under which information integrity practitioners increasingly operate, the unwavering commitment of various partners and the continued growth of the Africa Facts network remain clear reflections of collective resilience.
“The summit not only reaffirms our shared purpose but also strengthens opportunities for ongoing knowledge exchange that sustains progress and deepens impact.”
The summit will conclude with the highly anticipated African Fact-Checking Awards gala dinner which is the longest running and largest awards programme honouring fact-checking journalism in Africa, part of the statement read.
Seasoned fact-checker and researcher Fatimah Quadri has written numerous fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy pieces for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or fquadri@icirnigeria.org.
