The Wiki Indaba Conference 2024 in Johannesburg was a vibrant gathering, pulsating with the energy of African Wikimedians coming together to exchange knowledge and advance Wikimedia projects across the continent. Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA) was proud to be part of this dynamic space, with key team members contributing to discussions, panels, and presentations that focused on empowering African communities through Wikimedia. Here’s a recap of our activities during this exhilarating event.

In an era where the preservation of cultural heritage is more critical than ever, we proudly hosted a pivotal workshop to empower professionals in the Ghana Film Industry. This workshop was themed “Mastering the Essentials of Contributing Film & Television Content to Wikipedia,” and was a collaborative effort involving Open Foundation West Africa, The Africa Narrative, the National Film Authority, FESPACO, the US Embassy Ghana, and the Wikimedia Foundation. Beyond the workshop, the collaboration with the partners as mentioned above is under a major campaign dubbed the AfroCreatives WikiProject. The campaign aims to measurably enhance information on Wikipedia about the art and industry of African film.

The Africa Wiki Challenge, a unique and annual online campaign, is the brainchild of Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA). It stands out as a platform that empowers Africans and diasporans to create and expand Africa-related content on Wikipedia. This distinctive campaign is held in honour of Africa Union Day, a day that celebrates and promotes significant contributions by Africans and Africans in Africa.

In the spirit of collaboration, we launched the UHAS Wiki Club in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Ghana and the University of Health and Allied Science library department to empower educators to use open digital spaces. Traditionally, libraries have been the cornerstone of information access. However, the advent of the internet and digital technologies has significantly transformed how information is accessed and managed. E-libraries and online information repositories are becoming increasingly popular, providing users with a vast array of resources at their fingertips. This shift necessitates that librarians adapt by developing new digital skills to remain relevant and effective in their roles.

In an exciting new initiative, Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA) through the African Wikimedia Technical Community (AWMT) has launched tech clubs in universities across Ghana to introduce students to the world of Wikimedia, specifically focusing on MediaWiki and tech contributions. This initiative aims to bridge the knowledge gap among tech-savvy students in Africa and provide them with opportunities to engage with and contribute to the Wikimedia ecosystem.

This year marks a milestone: the fourth edition of the Africa Wiki Challenge (AWC). It's a celebration of another step forward in our journey to spotlight Africa in the vast online information space. As we embrace the digital age, we invite participants from across the continent to join us in this initiative. Together, we aim to expand and enrich the knowledge about Africa across the web, with a special focus on Wikimedia and its sister projects.

In celebration of African women's achievements and contributions to society, we launched the Shine Her Light Campaign, an initiative that focused on highlighting their stories and accomplishments. The Shine Her Light Campaign consisted of two main events: The Shine Her Light Writing Contest and the Shine Her Light Webinar.

Hey there, are you an African tech enthusiast? Here is all you need to know about a tech program that seeks to engage, inform, and train participants on how to navigate some cool trends in the world of tech. Reflecting on the recently concluded Wikimedia Tech Safari Program has been nothing short of amazing. It felt like embarking on a grand tour of tech innovation and teamwork. The African Wikimedia Tech Safari program is an initiative by the African Wikimedia Technical community which is managed by Open Foundation West Africa.

We initiated our inaugural in-person program with the annual Train the Trainer workshop (TOT). As we strive to expand our influence beyond Ghana's capital, we collaborate closely with community volunteers to establish wiki hubs in various regions, empowering them to facilitate open activities locally.

As we bid farewell to an eventful year, we are thrilled to share the highlights of our Annual General Meeting (AGM), the grand finale of an extraordinary chapter. The AGM was the perfect stage to reflect on the year's accomplishments and engage with our vibrant community. The AGM also witnessed the announcement of the new board.

It's almost that time of the year again and we are officially inviting you to our 2023 Annual General Meeting and for a delightful luncheon celebrating the inauguration of our new office space. Join us as we reflect on the year 2023. Enjoy a range of delicious dishes and seize the opportunity to connect with fellow members of the community. Whether you're a seasoned member or new to OFWA, let's come together for a moment of camaraderie and celebration.

As of 2017, we at Open Foundation West Africa have been actively pushing the Kiwix4schools initiative in Ghana and further advanced to reach the rest of the world with the Kiwix4schools Africa Mentorship Program this year (View post here). In the aftermath of the implementation of the initiative, 7 regions in the country, including the Eastern region, have benefitted from the project. Delving into our continued execution of the Kiwix4schools program in the country, we have extended our reach to other parts of the Eastern region of Ghana.

In a significant stride toward fostering open knowledge across the African continent, Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA) has extended its reach from West to East Africa. This expansion materialized with the training, guidance, and inspiration provided to a group of enthusiastic young minds, resulting in the launch of a Wikimedian Group in Ethiopia as part of the OFWA Africa Day Campaign.

The foundation of empowerment is education and the learning process is greatly influenced by one's ability to access educational resources. With the Kiwix initiative, Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School set out on a revolutionary journey after realizing the value of easily accessible education.

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) esteemed and highly competitive World Book Capital for promotion of 'book industry, libraries, reading, literacy awareness creation, and lively book culture', was won by Ghana this year. The capital city of Ghana, Accra, was selected by the UNESCO Advisory Council as the host city for the 2023 edition.

The African continent is embedded with rich culture, fascinating history and abundant resources. However, the online representation of these key elements of the continent is not very appealing. Africa is heavily lagging behind in terms of digital representation as compared to other continents. Most of Africa’s stories remain untold and wither away without being documented on the internet, especially Wikipedia while others are misconstrued.

The Kiwix4schools Mentorship Africa program has taken off with a bang!!! We are over the moon to reveal that our outstanding mentors are all fired up and ready to assist all the enrolled participants. A superb team of fourteen mentors have successfully completed the Introduction to Kiwix4schools course with flying colors, equipped with a zeal to guide one hundred participants spread across the African continent. We are fully confident that the participants will receive top-notch guidance from these mentors.

As part of our visionary mission to raise awareness about open resources, promote their widespread adoption, and share the benefits of contributing to the future of education and open learning, the Goethe-Institut Ghana collaborated with us to orchestrate a 2-day workshop for librarians and educators.

The Kiwix4Schools Africa Mentorship Program is set to launch on the 16th of March 2023, and it promises to be a game-changer in the education sector in Africa. The program aims to bring educational information to the fingertips of students in Africa who do not have access to the internet. For many students in Africa, access to educational resources is a luxury that they cannot afford. With limited access to the internet, these students often struggle to get the educational materials they need to excel in their studies. The Kiwix4Schools Africa Mentorship Program seeks to bridge this gap by providing students with access to educational materials offline. For the past two years, this project has been implemented in Ghana where we shared our learnings and we are optimistic about impacting many more communities across Africa.

In commemoration of the Safer Internet Day 2023 , the Internet Society Ghana Chapter collaborated with us to host a workshop at the Labone Senior High School. With this year's theme being "together for a better internet" students were trained on how to use the internet in a manner that will be safer and better for them.

For us at OFWA we kickstarted the year with our first in-person program by hosting the annual Train the Trainer workshop (TOT). In our pursuit to extend our reach beyond just the capital of Ghana, we work hand in hand with community volunteers by creating wiki hubs in their respective regions and empowering them to facilitate open activities there.

On Friday 19th of August, 2022 Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA) officially launched the Book Exchange Booth in partnership with the ARA Children Playground at the Achimota mall. The idea is to encourage readers to donate old books from a stationed booth and pick up new ones in order to encourage sharing and repurposing old books among the youth while maintaining an environmentally friendly way of reuse that eradicates the burning of books.

The African WikiMedia Technical Community Hackathon is a hybrid two day event that hosted developers, translators, testers and other technical documentation writers to come together and work together on technical projects, learn from each other, and make new friends as well as find ways to solve existing problems.

The workshop was aimed at enlightening and empowering youth climate activists within the Youth Climate Council Ghana network on how they can use Wikipedia to build public awareness of climate change in Ghana.

Imagine a world where educational content is made open and accessible to all. Imagine a world where educational content can be accessed without the use of the internet.

The second edition of the Africa Wiki Challenge calls on the participation of organizers, individuals, user groups and anyone interested in the proper representation of Africa on the web. After a very successful maiden edition last year, Open Foundation West Africa once again presents you with another edition of the contest themed “Projecting African Culture.”

Angela Davis once said; “ when black women win victories, it is a boost for virtually every segment of society.” One can easily count the number of women who are celebrated in accordance with the development of Africa. Who writes these stories of African women?? Why are they not celebrated on the web as much as men are??

The second edition of the Africa Wiki Challenge calls on the participation of organizers, individuals, user groups, and anyone interested in the proper representation of Africa on the web. After a very successful maiden edition last year, Open Foundation West Africa once again presents you with another edition of the contest-themed “Projecting African Culture.

We are excited to share the results of the maiden edition of the Africa Wiki Challenge. Africa Wiki challenge is a campaign that seeks to bridge Africa's content gaps on the web. This year we launched the maiden edition of the challenge with the theme “LandMarks in Africa” which sought to generate content about the diverse kinds of landmarks across Africa on Wikipedia and it’s sister projects. A layer of the campaign was dedicated to disturbing existing articles about landmarks, to provide more information and increase it’s visibility through images.

Call for Project Manager for the Wikidata for Education Project Title: Project Manager, Wikidata for Education Length of Contract: ASAP-Dec 30, 2022 Time commitment: 30 hours per week Location: Accra, Ghana

Founders day is a day set aside to celebrate the anniversary of the establishment of a society or organization. It is celebrated all over the world within various institutions and countries. Since 2019, the 4th of August was declared as Founder's Day in Ghana. Founder's Day is a day meant to commemorate the pioneers and forefathers who led the way towards the independence of Ghana.

Wikipedia mirrors the world, the biases that exist in the world also come to play in Wikipedia. In our part of the World, Wikipedia is not trusted as good educational material in our schools especially institutions of higher learning mainly because it's a Wiki.

Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA), and Asaf Bartov, Senior Programme Officer Emerging Communities, Wikimedia Foundation held fruitful discussions with the various departments at the University of Ghana on Wikipedia initiatives.

Ever seen participants bursting with so much excitement learning about the Open Movement for the first time? Ever witnessed young people so obsessed with Wikipedia after finding out they can actually contribute? Ever seen energetic participants changing the world immediately after training?

When Felix Nartey, co-founder of Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA), encouraged me not to miss Asaf Bartov’s visit to Ghana, I thought it was one of his ways to just get me present at the training.

Getting new editors who would be dedicated to advancing the course of Wikipedia has never been easy, not to talk about retention of new recruits. People show interest in editing Wikipedia but varnish after their first training and there are others who start editing, gain more interest and slip away along the way.

Wiki Club Ashesi under the umbrella of Open Foundation West Africa was founded in 2017 by Edith Violet Naisubi who, at the time was a sophomore at Ashesi University. The club which is an affiliate of Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA) has since grown to become a multi-member student organization focused on enhancing student participation in open resources and open projects through education and training.

How often do you witness and capture the display of rich culture, beautiful faces, magnificent ancient traditions, and charming ornaments exhibited during festivals? Are these captivating moments you witness during festivals a true reflection of how they are represented on the web?

Wikimania 2018 was the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa and diverse news about the annual event was nothing short of exciting and educational. At OFWA, the event meant a lot to us as three of our members contributed immensely in various sessions at the conference.

Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA) has launched a Wikipedia for Schools Programme with the African Science Academy (ASA).The partnership was initiated by the Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Victoria Coleman of the Wikimedia Foundation, who served as a mentor for the young female students of the Academy.

The Africa Wikimedia Developers Project (AWMD) organized its second workshop in Cote d’ivoire last week after the first edition was held in Ghana last year. The two-day workshop saw participants schooled on how to use phabricator to track bugs (problems on media wiki: the software responsible for all Wikimedia projects.)