A continent-wide online competition that encourages people to contribute Africa-relevant media (photos, video or audio) around an annual theme. Wiki Loves Africa (WLA) is an annual contest that gives everyone across the African continent an opportunity to share media that is relevant to their experience. These photographs, video and audio files are contributed to Wikimedia Commons for use on...
A continent-wide online competition that encourages people to contribute Africa-relevant media (photos, video or audio) around an annual theme.
Wiki Loves Africa (WLA) is an annual contest that gives everyone across the African continent an opportunity to share media that is relevant to their experience. These photographs, video and audio files are contributed to Wikimedia Commons for use on Wikipedia and other project websites of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Each year, participants are encouraged to submit media from Africa that relates to a specific theme. The theme changes each year and is selected by the community from a few universal, visually rich and culturally specific topics (for example, markets, rites of passage, festivals, public art, cuisine, natural history, urbanity, daily life, notable people, and so forth).
Once all submissions are received, the best photographs are selected and prizes distributed.
WLA themes include:
Each year’s project runs for two months at the continental level. However, some specific actions, such as training and communication, are held in some countries with national organisers. This project was funded by the Orange Foundation (2014) and the Wikimedia Foundation (2014-16). In 2014 and 2015 it was hosted at the Africa Centre. In 2016 it was hosted at ynternet.org
WikiAfrica is an international movement that takes place on the African continent and beyond. It encourages individuals, interested groups and organisations to create, expand and enhance online content about Africa. This involves motivating for the representation of the continent’s contemporary realities and history, its peoples and its innovations on the world’s most used encyclopaedia, Wikipedia. WikiAfrica is not owned by one organisation and it belongs to all people and organisations contributing to its scope.
In its various guises and hosted at several institutions (including Lettera27, Africa Centre, Ynternet.org, and Wikimedia CH), the WikiAfrica movement has consistently instigated and led multi-faceted innovative projects. These projects have activated communities and driven content onto Wikipedia. Examples include Share Your Knowledge, #OpenAfrica training Courses and Toolkits, Kumusha Bus (in Ethiopia and Ghana), WikiEntrepreneur (in Ethiopia and Malawi), Kumusha Takes Wiki (Cote d’Ivoire and Uganda) and Wiki Loves Africa.
Over 2016/17 it is working on Wiki Loves Women (in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut), WikiPack Africa, WikiFundi and the WikiChallenge African Schools (funded by the Orange Foundation), WikiAfrica Schools (funded by lettera27), Wikipedia Primary (funded by SUPSI) and Wiki Loves Africa (funded by Wikimedia Foundation).
WikiAfrica was started in 2006 as a collaboration between Wikimedia IT and lettera27, since then – via the support of several organisations and the work of a few people – it has grown to embrace the continent and build communities. It has been pivotal in driving the current contributions done by communities across sub-Saharan Africa.
The projects detailed below form the main backbone of the WikiAfrica movement. They have all been conceptualised, instigated and led by three members of Wiki In Africa, although until 2017 through the agency or fiscal sponsorship of different organisations.
2006
2009
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
The organisations that have hosted or are collaborating on Wiki Africa projects include:
