Africa Check to counter COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in Nigeria, Senegal

Africa Check, the first independent non-profit fact-checking organisation in Africa, has been named by Google News Initiative (GNI) as the only African recipient among the eleven projects to benefit from the new $3million GNI Vaccine Counter Misinformation Open Fund.

The GNI vaccine counter-misinformation open fund seeks to help debunk COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.

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Africa Check, partnering with Theatre for a Change for the purposes of their project, will produce a series of interactive radio drama shows, in Wolof in Senegal, and in Pidgin in Nigeria, to present fact-checking in a more participatory way.

The Open Fund, which was launched in January, accepted applications from projects that aim to broaden the audience of fact-checkers, especially among specific populations that may be disproportionately targeted with misinformation.

According to Communications and PR Manager, Google West Africa, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, the global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is exacerbating a perennial problem of misinformation about immunisation.

The GNI was established to work with the global news industry to help journalism thrive in the digital age.

Africa Check was established in South Africa in 2012 to promote accuracy in public debate and the media across the continent. It has since expanded to set up offices in Senegal, Nigeria and Kenya.