African & Proud (AP)/Strategic Plans/2026-2027
📌 Background
[edit]African & Proud (Afroyanga Cultural Enlightenment Initiative) is a Wikimedia-affiliated community dedicated to documenting and amplifying African culture, voices, and knowledge across Wikimedia projects. Since our founding, we have implemented innovative programs that bring together youth, educators, and communities to contribute content and strengthen local Wikimedia ecosystems.
Our past programs — Culture Connect Africa, AfroCuisine, Afroyanga Bootcamp, WikiClassroom, and more — have reached thousands of participants across Nigeria, Ghana, and beyond. With consistent support from the General Support Fund (GSF), we have become known for mobilizing scale and building pipelines of young African contributors.
In 2025, we received valuable feedback from the MEA Regional Funding Committee and WMF staff. While our cultural programs were recognized as impactful, the committee highlighted two areas for growth:
- Ensuring quality of content to match the scale of participation.
- Strengthening the capacity-development focus of the Afroyanga Bootcamp.
This new two-year Strategic Plan (2026–2027) directly responds to that feedback by embedding quality, sustainability, and leadership development across all programs.
🎯 Strategic Goals (2026–2027)
[edit]- Expand African Cultural Representation
- Increase the volume and diversity of African content on Wikipedia and sister projects.
- Strengthen Pan-African collaborations across regions.
- Improve Content Quality & Sustainability
- Move beyond “new article creation” by introducing structured mentorship and article improvement systems.
- Establish clear quality pathways (stub → usable → good).
- Develop Youth & Community Leadership
- Formalize pipelines from WikiClassroom → Bootcamp → Mentorship.
- Support ambassadors, teachers, and delegates as multipliers.
- Foster Cross-Border Collaboration & Partnerships
- Continue our successful partnership with Dagbani Wikimedians UG.
- Expand to new countries (Kenya/Tanzania in 2026; additional partners in 2027).
- Ensure Transparency, Feedback, and Community Involvement
- Bi-monthly meetups, structured feedback sessions, and publication of community reports.
- Establish a Community Advisory Board in 2027.
🗂️ Key Activities & Timeline; The HOW
[edit]| Activity | 2026 – Strengthening Phase | 2027 – Scaling & Sustainability Phase | Aim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Culture Connect (Film & Cinema, AfroCuisine, AfroFestival) | 1. Run in Nigeria + Ghana + 1 new partner country (Kenya/Tanzania)
2. 300–500 participants |
1. Expand to 4 countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya/Tanzania + 1 new e.g. Uganda or South Africa)
2. 1,500+ participants |
✅ Demonstrates scale & Pan-African reach while embedding quality recognition |
| Afroyanga Bootcamp | 1. Revived after 2025 pause
2. 30–25 delegates |
1. Bootcamp 4.0 scaled to include delegates from 3 countries (Nigeria + Ghana + 1 East African)
2. 25 participants (max number to be able to manage the program) |
✅ Reframed as a leadership pipeline → direct link to Wikimedia movement capacity |
| WikiClassroom | 1. 8–12 schools in Nigeria
2. 500+ students & teachers |
1. Scale to Nigeria + 1 new country (pilot in Ghana or Kenya)
2. 20 schools |
✅ Clear curriculum, structure & progression; addresses previous funder requests |
| Improving Articles Project - AfroContent+ Workshop (NEW) | 1. 10-15 experienced editors engaged
2. 500+ stubs/articles improved |
1. 20-25 experienced editors (regional pool)
2. 800+ articles improved |
✅ Direct response to quality critique; shows measurable, sustained improvement |
| Bi-Monthly Meetups | 1. 6 meetups
2. Each includes quality-focused training |
1. 6 meetups
2. Add cross-border expert talks (Nigeria ↔ Ghana ↔ Kenya) |
✅ Ongoing reinforcement → prevents “one-off” edits |
| Annual Feedback & Future Planning | 1. 1 formal review (July/August)
2. Continuous feedback via Google Forms (~200 responses) |
1. Institutionalize a Community Advisory Board (rotating roles)
2. Feedback integrated into 2028–2029 planning |
✅ Responds to request for transparency & community involvement |
📈 Expected Outcomes
[edit]- Content & Participation:
- By 2027, over 3,200 new articles/media contributions and 1,300+ improved articles across Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wikivoyage, Wikidata, and Commons.
- Quality:
- 60% of stubs upgraded to “usable” quality in 2026.
- At least 30% of improved articles reaching “good article” or equivalent by 2027.
- Community Growth:
- WikiClubs established in 3–8 schools, fostering sustained youth engagement.
- At least 50 Bootcamp delegates across 3 countries with documented leadership outcomes.
- Pan-African Collaboration:
- Partnerships with Dagbani UG (Ghana), Kenya/Tanzania UG, and 1 additional UG (by 2027).
- Governance & Transparency:
- Community Advisory Board established by 2027.
- Annual community reports and published feedback cycles.
⚖️ Risks & Mitigation
[edit]- Funding constraints / inflation:
- Build flexible budgets; leverage partnerships for local logistics.
- Content deletion risk (quality issues):
- Experienced editor mentorship, Improving Articles Project, admin collaboration.
- Volunteer burnout:
- Ambassadors and mentorship structures to distribute leadership.
- Over-extension in new regions:
- Pilot approach (Kenya/Tanzania in 2026; scale only after lessons learned).
🌍 Long-Term Vision
[edit]African & Proud aims to build a Pan-African Wikimedia movement that is youth-driven, community-led, and quality-focused.
By 2027, we will have:
- Established strong pipelines from WikiClassroom → Bootcamp → Mentorship.
- Embedded quality assurance systems into every major program.
- Expanded partnerships across at least four African countries.
- Positioned African & Proud as a sustainable hub for authentic African cultural representation on Wikimedia.
This Strategic Plan (2026–2027) provides the foundation for future growth, ensuring that the Wikimedia movement in Africa is not only expanding in numbers, but also improving in quality, leadership, and sustainability.