How we are funded

Africa Check is a registered non-profit organisation. Our funding comes entirely from donations, with additional support-in-kind from our leading partners: the AFP Foundation and the Journalism Department of the University of the Witwatersrand.

Africa Check runs on a financial year from the end of June. A full financial report showing revenue and expenditure for its first full year of operation will be posted here.

Donations 2012

  • €58,750 – IPI/Google

The seed funding for the project – €58,750 – was provided by the Vienna based International Press Institute which named Africa Check in April 2012 as one of the 14 winners of its IPI News Innovation Contest. The funding for the contest was provided by Google.

Donations 2013

  • R300,000 – OSF-SA

The Open Society Foundation for South Africa agreed in July 2012 to provide R300,000 in funding for Africa Check, supporting the operation and development of the project in 2013.

Support for the project

AFP Foundation

The AFP Foundation is the non-profit media development arm of the international news agency AFP. It was set up in 2007 to provide training, join efforts to raise media standards and support press freedom in developing and transitional countries.

AFP Foundation deputy director Peter Cunliffe-Jones devised the Africa Check project. The Foundation seconded him to run the project free of charge to the project.

WITS Journalism / University of the Witwatersrand

WITS Journalism is the journalism department of the University of the Witwatersrand, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, headed by Professor Anton Harber. Professor Harber was involved in the development of the project from the outset.

WITS Journalism department hosts the editorial team in South Africa running the website and provides office support.