africa

Inaccurate information on social media has become a problemin many countries around the world. Researchers know a fair deal about “fake news” in the global North, but much less about what is happening in the global South, particularly in Africa. 

In African countries there is a fast-growing population of internet and mobile media users. They have the means to share information quickly and easily. But they can also spread disinformation and misinformation. According to the UNESCO Handbook for Journalism Education and Training, misinformation is information that is false, but believed to be true by the person sharing it. Disinformation is known to be false by the person sharing it.

Without more research in an African context, it is difficult for scholars and policy makers to come up with solutions to the specific problems of false information experienced on the continent.

A recent study found that social media users in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa were more likely to share false information online than their counterparts in the US. To overcome problems associated with misinformation and disinformation, it is crucial to understand why people do this. False and misleading information about the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, can be life-threatening. Political disinformation also endangers democracy on the continent.

Building on that study, our team recently explored why young African media users share information online. We found that users do spend some time thinking about whether the information is true. Their decision to share it (even if they know it’s untrue) depends on the topic and the type of message. We also found differences between countries which might be important when thinking about how to prevent the spread of false information. 

Reasons for sharing

In late 2019 and early 2020 we spoke to students in six African countries: Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In total, we talked to 94 university students in focus groups. We showed them some hoaxes which circulated widely on social media at the time. Two of these hoaxes were related to health, and one was about local politics.

In all six countries, the most common motivation for sharing (mis)information, including health-related items and news about terrorism, political violence and scams, was mainly attributed to a sense of civic duty or moral obligation. In these cases, students felt compelled to alert friends and family “just in case” the information turned out to be true. Not doing so, in their view, could hurt their relationships.

Humour and the use of parody also influenced sharing of political (mis)information. This corroborates a previous study of African countries, but differs from studies in developed countries where social position and political orientation are more important factors. 

Political motivations have often been highlighted as a reason for sharing misinformation elsewhere. Our study revealed that these motivations play out differently across countries.

In Zimbabwe, for example, where press freedom is weak and authoritarianism is still a reality, the sharing of political (mis)information was presented as a courageous act. In South Africa and Ghana, both of which have a relatively vibrant media sector and a flawed democracy, students appeared to be the least motivated to share political news. 

A country’s political culture and media system seemed to be linked to the way users interacted with false political information.

Cues to spot false information

Not all social media users share false information. Some use cues to check whether what they are seeing online is reliable. This helps them decide whether to share content on social media. 

In all countries in our study, except for Zambia and Zimbabwe, students used cues to determine what content to share. But sometimes, these cues led them to share inaccurate information. For example, a blue check next to a Twitter username was taken as a sign that the account had been verified and that the story was potentially true. For some, this was enough to convince them to share a post. Some others would investigate further. 

Other cues mentioned included the number of followers, the lack of likes, comments, retweets and other metrics, the poor writing style, and the use of excessive punctuation. When a website’s layout looked “off”, when editing was poor, or when they had no recollection of the same story being published in mainstream news media, students would be reluctant to share it.

The recognition of these cues would seem to indicate that some university students are quite media literate. But being able to recognise a fake story did not always deter them from sharing it. 

A story’s shareability, even if it was known to be inaccurate, was dependent on the topic. Stories about health and food as well as posts or tweets about scams, safety and terrorism were often shared to “create awareness”. Kenyan students said they would share stories about terror-related incidents. And Nigerian participants said they would share news about anti-African xenophobic attacks in South Africa out of a sense of civic duty and “just in case” it could be of benefit to the receiver.

Not many students said they would share a political story. Most of the participants lacked interest in politics, making them less likely to react to the stimulus. Students who described themselves as politically aware and engaged said they would share the news story because it aligned with their political views, or because it would spark some debate.

What we recommend

One important finding was that young media consumers in African countries demonstrated significant agency as they relied on cues to evaluate information. Their practices could be viewed as media literacy skills, for instance seeking out additional sources and verifying claims found on social media.

This supports the need for media literacy to find its way into school curricula in African countries. It provides critical thinking skills to spot misleading information online. 

But media literacy is not the only solution. Older users are also susceptible to receiving and sharing false information, often without knowing the dangers of doing so. Many of the students in our study noted that, while they would not share the content, older family members would. 

Journalists, social media companies and governments should do their part to address this. For example big tech companies must scale up attempts to flag false information, educate people and use algorithms to control misinformation. These efforts need to be targeted at different demographic groups.

Different African countries will still need to come up with their own solutions because of contextual differences.

A post by Africa Facts Zone  on February 27th, 2020 pertaining to Ghana’s position in Africa and the world has generated several shares and comments capturing a mix of commendations and doubt.

Dubawa took a look at the claims mentioned to ascertain truths and non truths from the post. 

But before that, we reached out to the owner of the page, IsimaOdeh, on twitter to find out the information sources used in the post. According to IsimaOdeh, the claims were based on basic google research.  Upon further research, Dubawa found that although the information posted could be found online, some were dated while some were unreliable. We address the claims successively below. 

Claim 1: Ghana has free education.

Partly true. Ghana has free compulsory universal basic education and free senior high school education available to public schools. Tertiary education, however, with the exception of  Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) under the Ghana Education Service(GES), is not free.

Verification:

The Ghanaian government, in a bid to get more children into school, set up the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) in the 1990s. The programme made provisions to cover non-tuition fees of children who are of primary school going age. 

The FCUBE policy makes access to basic education in Ghana a right for all citizens irrespective of gender, geographical location, religion or ethnic background. 

Basic education here covers two years kindergarten, six years primary and three years junior high school.

The policy is embedded in the 1992 Constitution which stipulates that,

“All persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities and with a view to achieving the full realisation of that right, basic education shall be free, compulsory and available to all.”

In more recent times, education in Ghana has now included a free education policy for public secondary level schools. The free SHS policy was launched on September 12, 2017 by the Nana Akufo-Addo-led administration. The government’s move was to remove pressures from otherwise burdened parents by covering secondary school level bills including feeding fees, tuition fees, admission fees, library fees, examination fees, free textbooks, free boarding etc.

All educational levels in private schools are not covered in either the FCUBE policy or the Free SHS policy in the country. 

Claim 2: Ghana has free basic healthcare.

True. The National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana is the authority that is charged with managing and ensuring free basic healthcare for all persons in Ghana.

Verification:

Ghana has a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) which is entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring access to basic healthcare services to all citizens. The facility is, however, limited in its execution with some tests, medication and treatments not catered for by the scheme. In some cases the nature of requests made by doctors, and depending on the specific case, may warrant payments by patients or be covered by the NHIS.

Additionally, not all hospitals accept or operate with the NHIS. The scheme has a list of accredited facilities that offer services to citizens including some pharmacies, polyclinics, district and regional hospitals, among others. 

Claim 3: Ghana was the world’s fastest growing economy in 2018 and 2019

False. Ghana was one of the world’s fastest growing economies, the sixth, in 2018, and 15th in 2019 after it was projected to remain in that rank in 2019 as well.

Verification: 

Economic growth is the process by which a nation’s wealth increases over time. It is measured by the monetary value of goods and services produced within a country in a specified time period. A country’s placement on global economic growth ranking is a distinguishing indicator for thriving or failing economies.

In 2018, the International Monetary Fund(IMF) declared that the world’s fastest growing economies were from the developing countries with Ghana coming in sixth with a 5.6% growth in its economy. At the time, Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the country was 6.3%.

According to data from the World Bank, Ghana was the world’s 15th fastest growing economy with a 6.5% growth rate in 2019. Among Sub-Saharan African countries however, it was 6th.

Claim 4: Ghana is Africa’s third most peaceful country.

True. Ghana is the 3rd most peaceful country in Africa, according to the Global Peace Index.

Verification:

According to the 14th edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness, Ghana is the third most peaceful country in Africa. 

The report, produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and covering the year 2020, presents the most comprehensive data on the state of global peace. Ghana is 43rd globally and 3rd in sub-Saharan Africa.

Claim 5: Ghana has Africa’s third strongest currency.

True. Ghana holds Africa’s third strongest currency when held up against the US dollar.

Verification:

The strength of a currency is based on the rate of international market demand. Based on this, on a global scale, two of the most powerful currencies are the US Dollar and the British Pound against which all other currencies are held because they are used for all manner of transactions  worldwide.

Using the US Dollar as a benchmark, the top 5 African currencies in 2020 were the Libyan Dinar(1 USD = LD 1.41), the Tunisian Dinar(1 USD = DT 2.87), the Ghana Cedi(1 USD = GH₵ 5.49), the Moroccan Dirham(1 USD = MAD 9.89), and the Botswana Pula(1 USD = P 10.90).

In 2021, the Libyan Dinar dropped from its spot at the top after the Libyan Central Bank introduced a new unified exchange rate in January 2021. The new rate is 4.8 Dinar to 1 US dollar with the Tunisian Dinar coming first with DT 2.73 to 1 US dollar.. Ghana however will retain its 3rd position as the Ghana cedi still comes after the Libyan dinar at about GHC 5.72 to 1 US dollar.

Claim 6: Ghana is the fourth most powerful country in Africa.

False. Ghana is Africa’s fifth most powerful country.

Verification:

What is a powerful country?

Countries are said to be powerful based on leadership, economic influence, political influence, strong international alliances and strong military. Such countries are found to dominate news headlines and are considered relevant in shaping the global outlook.  Some of the world’s most powerful countries are the United States of America, Russia, and China. 

Factors like the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Population and Per Capita Gross Domestic Product are valued to measure power ranking in economic terms. 

The U.S.news together with BAV Group and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania produced a report on the world’s most powerful countries in 2020, using variables such as entrepreneurship, cultural influence, citizenship, openness for business, military power, and quality of life.

Egypt maintained its number one position in Africa from 2019, followed by South Africa, Morocco, Kenya, Ghana, Tunisia and others.  According to this report, Ghana is fifth in the African best or most powerful countries. 

Other basic Google searches including this one did not mention Ghana at all in their list of powerful countries.

Claim 7: Ghana is the fourth country in Africa to have the cheapest internet.

False. Ghana’s internet is the sixth cheapest in Africa according to available information.

Verification: 

In 2019, according to Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), data affordability is achieved when 1GB of mobile broadband data costs no more that 2% of average monthly income in a country. Africa, according to news reports, pays some of the highest internet user costs in the world.

In 2020, after updating their mode of calculating the cheapest data-only mobile-broadband basket per economy using the provision of 1.5GB high speed internet over a thirty day period, A4AI reports that Ghanaians are paying 2.03% of Gross National Income (GNI).

A report by Statista.com on most affordable internet usage in Africa found Ghana placing 6th in 2020; a gigabyte cost an average of 0.94 US Dollars. Somalia, according to the report, has the cheapest internet in Africa with one gigabyte costing 0.50 US Dollars. By contrast, the highest price was recorded in Sao Tome and Principe, where one gigabyte cost 28.26 U.S. dollars on average.

Image source: Statista.com

Ghana has one of the highest numbers of tests conducted for COVID-19 on the African continent -President Akufo-Addo 

An official from WHO Ghana has confirmed Ghana to be among African countries testing in high numbers on the continent. Furthermore, available data for eleven other African countries in comparison with Ghana, also prove this assertion to be true.

Full text

Health experts have shown the importance of testing for COVID-19 in order to help isolate or hospitalize and treat infected people, as well as to help identify the prevalence, spread and contagiousness of the virus in the community. 

It is in this light that in a recent update on measures taken to combat the spread of Coronavirus, President Akufo-Addo stated the government of Ghana’s efforts to reduce the number of cases through tracing, testing and treating. 

He highlighted that the total number of tests conducted in Ghana as at 13 June 2020, was 254, 331- a number which he stated was one of the highest on the African continent, especially in relation to Ghana’s population of 31 million. 

Verification

Dubawa spoke to an official from the WHO office in Ghana who confirmed the claim:

“Oh yes, Ghana is one of the countries testing high numbers in Africa’’

News reports here, here, here, reveal that testing rates in Africa are generally low as most African countries were not conducting tests for COVID-19 due to a number of constraints.  

Yet, for some that were testing, Dubawa found data available on the total tests conducted as at 13 June 2020 for the following twelve African countries, with their corresponding population. 

This is because, experts here, here, here, here indicate that the population of a country is a factor considered to indicate a country’s testing rate.

Country	Total tests conducted as of 13 June 2020	Population	Tests Per 1000 population(test/(population/1000))
Mauritius	142,889	1,271,768	112.354
Djibouti	40,855	988,000	41.351
South Africa	1,087,887	59,308,690	18.342
Ghana	254,331	31,072,940	8.184
Rwanda	87,656	12,952,218	6.767
Tunisia	59,887	11,818,619	5.067
Senegal	60,286	16,743,927	4.654
Uganda	125,491	45,741,007	2.743
Kenya	112,171	53,771,296	2.086
Zimbabwe	24,010	14,862,924	1.615
Ethiopia	176,504	114,963,588	1.535
Nigeria	90,464	206,139,589	0.438

Based on available data as of 13 June 2020 on the above twelve African countries, the testing rates show that Ghana is among the countries with high total tests conducted in Africa.

Conclusion

The President of Ghana’s statement that Ghana’s total tests conducted (254,331) for COVID-19 as at 13 June, 2020 is one of the highest on the African continent is true. 

Ghana ranks 4th out of 12 African countries with available figures on testing of citizens. An official from the World Health Organisation in Ghana has confirmed that Ghana is among countries in Africa testing high numbers. 

Moreover, available data from eleven other African countries prove this assertion.

Chinese Doctors confirm African skin resists Coronavirus infection, says newswatchnigeria.com and other sites. 

There is no evidence to suggest “black people’s” immunity to the virus, or conversely “white people’s” vulnerability to it. The World Health Organisation (WHO) already stated that anyone in proximity to an infected person is at risk of contracting it (COVID-19). 

Full Text

The major outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan China has caused pandemonium with countries setting measures in place to curb its spread. Other than tackling the epidemic, the media now faces an onslaught of resultant misinformation.

Recently, a blog post said that Chinese doctors have confirmed that Africans have skin layers that are immune to the deadly covid-19.

Other African platforms also published the story; platforms like CityScrollz, GHGossip, Kenyan Bulletin, Nairaland, CameroonIntelligenceReport amongst others.

According to the post, a Cameroonian college student studying in China who contracted coronavirus quickly recovered “because of his blood genetic composition, which is mainly found in the genetic composition of Subsaharan Africans.”

Verification

Coronavirus, which was renamed Covid-19 recently by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is a virus that infects humans; leading to an upper and sometimes lower respiratory tract infection. 

Does it mean Africans are safe? NO

Findings suggest otherwise. While the premise is correct, the claim is baseless; just another conclusion circulated by online blogs. Moreover, no credible news platform published it. Besides that, no health authority announced this alleged discovery.  

Isolated Incident

Nonetheless, it is accurate that a 21-year old Cameroonian, Kem Senou Daryl studying in China became ill and was hospitalized shortly after contacting coronavirus. He was the first African in China to contract the disease and report a full recovery.

Reports have it that the young man who was under a 14-day quarantine in the university dormitory said:

“No matter what happens I don’t want to take the sickness back to Africa.” 

Initially, he suffered from a fever, dry cough and flu-like symptoms; then was in isolation for 13 days in a local Chinese hospital. The doctors in the hospital administered antibiotics and HIV retroviral medication on Daryl for two weeks, after which he began to show signs of recovery. The hospital cleared Dary after the doctors conducted a CT scan and found no traces of the illness. The Chinese state also covered his medical care.

Possibly authentic image, still

Dubawa also performed reverse image verification on the pictures attached to the claim. Results revealed that they did not exist before February. Yet, to reiterate what we’ve established, it is an isolated incident!

Black or White? Don’t Matter

There is no evidence that black people were or are less susceptible to the disease. Anyone regardless of race who comes into close contact with an infected party is at risk. 

If indeed it is true that people from African backgrounds are more resistant to coronavirus than others, one should expect it to be a significant news story. Instead, we found the story only on a handful of online blogs, calling its trustworthiness to question.

PesaCheck interviewed a Medical practitioner, and the Doctor in a fact-check they published said:

Conclusion

While Senou was the first African to contract the virus and recuperate from it, one cannot attribute his recovery to just genetics or a superior immune system. His healing was instead a function of medication administered, according to new reports. Although, according to Dr Kitheka, a healthy immune system does play a role in recovery.