Farafina.tech, an African database advancing electoral integrity

Farafina.tech, an African database advancing electoral integrity

16 juillet, 2025

Dakar, 26 June 2025 – At a time when Africa is facing major democratic challenges and growing questions about the relevance and integration of electoral processes, AfricTivistes has launched Farafina, the continent’s first online one-stop platform dedicated to elections and electoral processes.

A major continental challenge

Africa is grappling with an unprecedented crisis of democratic confidence. Electoral processes are frequently undermined by a chronic lack of transparency, low voter turnout, the alarming spread of misinformation and the poor implementation of recommendations from election observation missions. These systemic issues undermine the legitimacy of democratic institutions and seriously erode public trust in governance systems.

One of the most pressing concerns is the fragmented, inaccessible and infrequently updated nature of essential electoral data, whether legal, technical or demographic. The absence of coherent, reliable information poses a significant obstacle to informed civic participation and severely restricts civil society’s capacity to effectively support and oversee electoral processes.

Farafina: Africa’s first digital platform dedicated to electoral integrity

Farafina, which means “Africa” in Mandinka, catalogues demographic data, organises and aggregates information on electoral systems, and monitors legal electoral frameworks across African countries. It features a comprehensive data visualisation system including country-specific fact sheets detailing electoral codes and key provisions. The platform is designed to serve civil society organisations, citizen observers, electoral authorities, political actors and international partners.

“Farafina.tech is much more than just a technology platform,” says Cheikh Fall, President of AfricTivistes. “It is the result of years of monitoring, data collection and technological design.” Farafina.tech is a tool for democratic empowerment, placing information and transparency at the heart of citizen engagement. Our ambition is to foster the emergence of a new generation of informed, committed African citizens who are equipped to safeguard and strengthen the continent’s democratic progress. It is one of the pillars of what we call ‘augmented citizenship.’

Key functionalities of Farafina:

  • A comprehensive directory of demographic data
  • Aggregated information on electoral systems
  • Monitoring of electoral legal frameworks across African countries
  • An interactive data visualisation system including detailed country fact sheets.

The Farafina initiative is a key part of the pan-African AHEAD Africa project, focusing on various stages of the electoral cycle. The project aims to strengthen electoral integrity and equip civil society with tools to improve democratic processes. The initiative demonstrates AfricTivistes’ ongoing commitment to reinforcing democracy and encouraging citizen participation in Africa in the digital era.

The launch of Farafina is supported by a variety of initiatives that together form a genuine ecosystem of democratic innovation.

Sóobu Tech4Elections Mapping: This comprehensive map of citizen-led electoral initiatives across Africa was developed in collaboration with local stakeholders. It identifies and highlights youth engagement and grassroots civic participation.

AfricTivistes Election MOOC: This free Massive Open Online Course provides in-depth training on democracy, governance, electoral processes, youth involvement, and peacebuilding. It is accessible to all African citizens seeking to expand their knowledge.

• Africa ElectionLab: This is an innovation lab that organises hackathons focused on designing tech-based solutions tailored to the unique challenges faced by African civil society.

• The Election Civic Tech Fund: A grant programme dedicated to supporting and scaling up innovative civic technologies for electoral engagement.

The pan-African AHEAD Africa project consortium, co-funded by the European Union, brings together AfricTivistes, Democracy Reporting International (DRI), the Européen Partnership for Democracy (EPD) and the following national networks of civil society organisations working on elections: the African Election Observation Network (AfEONET), the  Electoral Support Network of Southern Africa (ESN-SA), the East and Horn of Africa Election  Observers Network (E-HORN) and the West Africa Election Observers Network (WAEON).

For more information, please contact: info@africtivistes.org 

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