Africa Check, the continent’s leading organisation for promoting information integrity and resilience, has concluded a two-week fellowship held from 3 to 18 November 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya, Africa Check’s regional hub for East and Central Africa.
The programme, in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), a German foundation advancing democracy and media development, brought together emerging journalists and fact-checkers drawn from five African countries: Algeria, Lesotho, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Uganda.
Antonio Kisembo, from Uganda, said that every moment of the fellowship counted, and praised the Nairobi team for ensuring a smooth learning experience.
“It was a great and awesome experience. The mentors were generous with guidance and colleagues – the other fellows – made the whole journey inspiring and worth every moment,” Kisembo said.
He noted that going through the editorial process encouraged him to “slow down and interrogate everything in the fact-check”.
From Algeria, fellow Ben Ali Rachid Tehami described the two-week programme as “truly life-changing”. He pledged to use what he learned to make a positive difference in his country and highlighted the value of the exchanges with the Africa Check team.
“I enjoyed the dynamic between us fellows and the Africa Check team, especially the long discussions we had at the end of each day on different topics. Coming from different cultures also made our conversations richer and gave us many interesting points of view,” Rachid said of his stay in Nairobi.
Sierra Leonean fellow Alfred Koroma said the sessions had transformed his practice, emphasising his new confidence to “conduct deep online research, use new verification tools, source credible experts and apply effective hyperlinking”.
“The sessions on finding accurate information and online data, the fact-checking work in different formats and geolocation were among my most enjoyable sessions,” Koroma said.
'Humbling yet empowering and exciting'
Nicole Tau from Lesotho explained that although she already had a background in fact-checking, the fellowship had shown her “how to craft fact-check reports that tackle more complex claims”. She said the experience had given her the knowledge and tools to start her own initiatives and was committed to sharing these skills with colleagues back home.
“It was a humbling experience, but ultimately empowering and exciting. Through this journey, I’ve had to unlearn certain approaches and adapt to new methods of fact-checking, which has not only improved my skills but also made me a much better journalist,” Tau said.
Hussaina Usman from Nigeria said “the consistent learning, unlearning, and relearning how to be a world-class fact-checker” opened her mind to other possibilities in journalism.
“It was a phenomenal experience, one that I will always cherish. Our mentors were very professional, detailed and patient with us; they made the learning experience enjoyable,” Usman said.
Over the course of the immersive programme, fellows took part in practical sessions designed to strengthen their ability to verify information, use artificial intelligence tools responsibly and analyse data.
Alphonce Shiundu, the country editor of Africa Check in Kenya, thanked the fellows for their diligence.
“It was very fulfilling to engage with the very high-energy and young group from countries with nascent fact-checking communities. Seeing their dedication, I am hopeful about the future of information resilience and integrity in Africa,” said Shiundu.
The fellows had field visits to Africa Check’s partners in Kenya, Baraza Media Lab and Africa Uncensored.
By equipping participants with the skills to interrogate claims and publish evidence-based journalism, the fellowship aims to nurture a new generation of reporters committed to protecting truth and building trust in public debate across Africa.
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