AfriVoyage is a pan-African initiative designed to grow local and authentic African travel content on Wikivoyage.

We aim to equip African contributors especially the youth with the skills to document tourism, transport, culture, food, and heritage in their regions. The pilot begins in Uganda and will later expand to other African countries.

Overview

AfriVoyage focuses on:

Documenting local travel knowledge from an African point of view.
Mapping destinations, routes, and practical travel infrastructure.
Using Wikivoyage, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata as publishing tools
Strengthening travel content by African Wikimedians across countries.

Objectives

1. Add and improve 50+ travel articles on English Wikivoyage, with a focus on Uganda's tourism circuits.
2. Train 20–30 youth and new contributors in:

Travel writing (Wikivoyage).
Photo documentation (Commons).
Mapping (OpenStreetMap/Wikidata).
Establish a cross-border Wikivoyage contributor network (Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda) as a launchpad for future scaling.

Pilot Country

Uganda

Two workshops/Trainings (one in fortportal and another one in Jinja.
Two travel documentation circuits: 1. Western Circuit: Kampala → Masaka → Mbarara → Lake Mburo → Bushenyi → Kitagata → Rubirizi → Kasese (Queen Elizabeth, Katwe) → Fort Portal → Semuliki → back to Kampala.
Eastern Circuit: Kampala → Jinja → Lugazi → Mabira → Itanda → Bujagali → Sipi Falls → back to Kampala.

Both circuits include geo-tagging, photo walks, travel note-taking, and field data collection.

Platforms

Wikivoyage – Travel guides and routing
Wikimedia Commons – Images and media from documentation
Wikidata – Linked data for points of interest and regions
OpenStreetMap (OSM) – Mapping local routes, landmarks
Meta-Wiki – Coordination, planning, and documentation

Core Team

Name	Country	Role	Responsibilities
Alvin Ategyeka	Uganda	Project & Strategy Lead	Vision-setting, overall coordination, strategy execution, grant management, partner outreach, and global movement alignment.
Anuary Rajab	Tanzania	Co Project Lead & Program Implementation Lead	Supports overall strategy, supervises implementation across all circuits, ensures project quality, and leads scale-up strategy across countries.
Ndahiro Derrick	Rwanda	Outreach & Partnerships Coordinator	Engages with tourism stakeholders and Wikimedia communities across East Africa, builds relationships for future growth.
Ferdinand Irankunda	Burundi	Mapping & Data Integration Lead	Manages OpenStreetMap and Wikidata training, coordinates geotagging, route mapping, and metadata structuring.
Alex Method	Tanzania	Wikivoyage Content Trainer	Leads Wikivoyage training workshops, mentors article improvement efforts, maintains editorial quality.
Macholi Chris Benard	Uganda	Country Coordinator & Wikimedia Integration Strategist	Leads the Uganda pilot’s fieldwork and contributor coordination; globally ensures Wikimedia project alignment, promotes cross-platform impact, and documents success through stories and data.
Alinde Allen	Uganda	Training & Logistics Coordinator	Field coordination, onboarding of youth contributors, welfare management, and on-ground logistics

Future Role Outlook

After the Uganda pilot, each coordinator will initiate similar documentation and training circuits in their respective countries using lessons learned from the pilot.

Each core team member will also support cross-country learning, help coordinate shared regional campaigns, and co-organize an AfriVoyage East Africa convening (planned post-pilot).

Timeline

Preparation & Grant Writing: May–July 2025
Pilot Implementation: August–October 2025
Reporting & Scaling: November–December 2025

Status

Current phase: Project planning, budget finalization, and Wikimedia Rapid Grant application

Grants

Rapid Grant Proposal – Uganda Pilot

Why AfriVoyage?

AfriVoyage is a Wikimedia pilot project to reclaim African tourism narratives, support grassroots travel documentation, and contribute to open travel knowledge through African voices.