Do you want to help fight hate speech and disinformation in Southern Africa?
Code for Africa (CfA) is offering six stipend-based peer-mentor fellowships to teach open source intelligence (OSINT) skills for investigating digital incitement campaigns, coordinated trolling and disinformation that undermines our democracies and tries to spark polarisation or violence.
The four-month African Academy for Open Source Investigation (AAOSI) fellowships are open to both journalists and other human rights researchers, and will partner participants with veteran forensic analysts using ‘learn-by-doing’ methodologies to teach OSINT and social media intelligence (SOCMINT) techniques for detecting and mapping the often hidden masterminds behind campaigns.
This cohort will focus on South Africa’s municipal elections, xenophobia, tech-facilitated gender-based violence (tfGBV), climate conspiracies and subversion of democratic processes.
About AAOSI
AAOSI is a joint initiative by CfA’s CivicSignal media monitoring and AI/machine-learning research team, the iLAB forensic investigation team, the PesaCheck fact-checking team and the TrustLab anti-surveillance and digital security team, working through the African Digital Democracy Observatory (ADDO).
The fellowships are being implemented in partnership with the grassroots Association of Independent Publishers (AIP) and the Southern African Freelance Association (SAFREA), underwritten by the Norwegian Embassy in Pretoria.
Our goals for AAOSI Fellowships are to:
- Equip journalists and frontline human rights defenders with OSINT, SOCMINT, and forensic analysis skills and tools to turbocharge their investigations into information manipulation.
- Help newsrooms and watchdog civil society organisations reach larger audiences and build deeper public engagement through data-driven discussion on key issues.
- Build a strong pan-African network of OSINT and SOCMINT forensic investigators who can collaborate on transnational investigations with peers worldwide to unmask influence operations and information manipulation.
The fellowship programme
The part-time programme will run for four months and will include:
- Financial support: Participants will receive a modest monthly stipend to cover related activities and costs.
- Technical support: CfA will provide hands-on OSINT investigative 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 month.
Still interested? Check if you are eligible.
Applicants must:
- Either be based in South Africa already or, if based in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia or Zimbabwe, should be able to demonstrate a strong focus on research into elections or other democratic processes, xenophobia, tech-facilitated gender-based violence (tfGBV), or climate conspiracies.
- Have a minimum of one year’s experience in journalism or research at a human rights defending organisation, with a strong track record in investigative or data analysis.
- 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 human rights defending institution where content produced during the fellowship will be published. This requirement also applies to freelance journalists or researchers.
- 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 Monday, 10 August 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.