Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The fourth edition of the Africa Facts Summit opened on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, in Dakar, Senegal, bringing together more than 200 participants from 20 countries across the continent, including Benin. For the first time, the flagship gathering of Africa’s fact-checking community is being hosted on francophone soil, marking an important milestone for the growing movement against disinformation.
The two-day summit, organised by Africa Check, Africa’s leading fact-checking organisation, has drawn journalists, researchers, technologists, civil society leaders and policymakers to reflect on the state of information integrity on the continent. The agenda includes panels and breakout sessions on the financial sustainability of fact-checking, access to information in the age of disinformation, the use of artificial intelligence tools, and the social vulnerabilities that make communities more susceptible to falsehoods.
Senegal welcomes the fact-checking community
In his opening address, Habibou Dia, Director of Communication at Senegal’s Ministry of Communication, said his country was honoured to host the summit and emphasised the government’s recognition of fact-checking as a crucial tool against the spread of false information.
He linked the challenge of disinformation to the rapid growth of digital communication platforms, where rumours and unverified claims circulate faster than credible reporting. “Providing access to reliable information will help us cope with the waves of false information on social media platforms,” he said, announcing that Senegal had recently adopted a law on access to information.
While acknowledging state-backed initiatives, Dia stressed that newsroom culture must change if the fight against disinformation is to succeed. “We need an army of fact-checkers in the newsrooms. Editors themselves must encourage the creation of fact-checking desks,” he said. He also warned that media literacy gaps remain a pressing problem, especially among citizens outside the formal education system.
Fact-checking is not enough on its own
Assane Diagne, Editor-in-Chief of The Conversation Francophone and a pioneer of fact-checking in French-speaking Africa, noted that while fact-checkers play a critical role, their work alone cannot meet the scale of the challenge.
Diagne pointed out that disinformation undermines everything from health programmes to public policies and electoral processes. For him, the summit is not just a space to share tools and strategies but also a reminder of the urgent need to move further and faster in building resilience against false narratives.
Looking ahead
Over the next two days, participants will examine the sustainability of fact-checking organisations, the potential of AI tools in identifying manipulated content, and the wider relationship between disinformation, democracy and governance in Africa.
By bringing together pioneers of fact-checking from both anglophone and francophone countries, the summit signals a renewed push to strengthen collaboration across the continent. As the Director of Communication reminded participants: the fight against misinformation is far from over, and the need for innovation, media literacy, and stronger editorial practices is more urgent than ever. –
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