Are you a journalist based in Southern Africa and interested in strengthening your capacity to conduct open-source investigations?
Code for Africa (CfA) is offering six African Academy for Open Source Investigation (AAOSI) Fellowships to equip journalists from investigative media outlets and watchdog civil society organisations (CSOs) with open-source intelligence (OSINT) and social media intelligence (SOCMINT) forensic analysis skills to produce evidence-driven analyses.
The fellowships will enhance information integrity in the target countries by tackling information manipulation and interference (IMI), foreign information manipulation (FIMI), coordinated inauthentic behaviour (CIB), disinformation campaigns, hate speech, incitement, and polarising or extremist information sharing.
The fellowships will focus on key thematic areas, including climate-related narratives, foreign information manipulation and interference, the 2026 South African municipal elections and xenophobia.
About AAOSI
AAOSI is a joint initiative by CfA’s iLAB forensic research team, CivicSignal Artificial Intelligence/machine-learning team, and the PesaCheck fact-checking team.
Our goals for AAOSI Fellowships are to:
- Equip journalists with OSINT, SOCMINT, and forensic analysis skills and tools to turbocharge their investigations into information manipulation.
- Help newsrooms reach larger audiences and build deeper public engagement through data-driven discussions on key issues.
- Build a strong pan-African network of OSINT, SOCMINT, and forensic investigators who can collaborate on transnational investigations with peers worldwide to unmask influence operations and information manipulation.
The fellowship programme
The programme will run for six months and will include:
- Financial support: Participants will receive a monthly stipend to cover related activities and costs.
- Technical support: CfA will provide hands-on OSINT investigations training, followed by one-on-one mentorship from data analysts, data technologists, editors, and multimedia producers.
- Publishing support: Participants will publish content packages produced under the fellowship on their respective media platforms, with additional support from CfA to publish internationally.
During the fellowship, participants will be required to produce evidence-driven content packages in formats such as written reports, articles, videos, and podcasts on the highlighted issues. At least one content package will be published every two months.
Eligibility
Still interested? Check if you are eligible.
Applicants must:
- Be based in a member country of the Southern African Development Community (SADC): Angola, Botswana, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
- Have a minimum of one year’s experience in journalism, with a strong track record in investigative or data journalism.
- Provide evidence of recently published content packages (reports, articles, videos, podcasts, etc.).
- Be attached to or affiliated with a media house, digital news outlet, or other relevant organisation where content produced during the fellowship will be published. This requirement also applies to freelance journalists.
- Commit to publishing/disseminating their work on an appropriate public platform. CfA will assist with partnerships/syndications where appropriate.
- Commit to agreed-on weekly online training and mentorship sessions.
- Be willing to share their new skills and knowledge within their organisation by presenting their projects and techniques to their peers.
- Be fluent in either of the languages of tuition and mentorship (English or French).
Applicants with a strong track record of reporting on cross-cutting issues across multiple Southern African countries will be prioritised.
If you are eligible, please apply by no later than Thursday, 12 March 2026, by completing this form.
Questions? Reach out to mitchelle.awuor@codeforafrica.org or @kunle.adebajo@codeforafrica.org.
Please note: Due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to respond to each one individually. If you are shortlisted or selected for an interview, we will contact you.
About the partners
Code for Africa (CfA) is Africa’s largest civic technology and open data incubator. CfA supports digital democracy and investigative data journalism initiatives as part of its mission to give citizens access to actionable information and amplify citizen voices to make society more responsive and accountable. CfA’s mission is to leverage technology and data to foster digital democracies and empower citizens by providing actionable information.
The African Digital Democracy Observatory (ADDO) is the only continent-wide research coalition focused on understanding how disinformation and influence or information operations are being used to subvert African democracies or watchdog institutions. The initiative is member-driven, and consists of 15 organisations that run substantive Africa-focused analytical research or investigations. Find out more about ADDO’s activities and members here.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway (Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs) is the governmental body responsible for Norway’s foreign policy. It is structured into nine departments and oversees nearly 100 diplomatic missions worldwide, including embassies, permanent delegations, and consulates general. Among its key responsibilities is promoting human rights and democratic principles.To all recruitment agencies: CfA does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our employment application line, CfA employees or any other CfA contact. CfA is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.