Accra, 15 December 2025 – FactSpace West Africa participated in a webinar organised by the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) on December 15, 2025, focusing on disinformation and misinformation in the West African region.
The webinar, theme “Misinformation & Disinformation: A Growing Threat to Regional Stability in West Africa,” formed part of a series of engagements organised in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of KAIPTC.
The webinar hosted high-profile panellists in the information integrity space, including the Executive Director of FactSpace West Africa, Rabiu Alhassan; Lead Instructional Designer and Senior eLearning Project Officer at KAIPTC, Irene Elorm H. Fiebor; Monitoring, Evaluating and Learning Coordinator for the Danish Gulf of Guinea Maritime Security Programme, Benjamin Serebour; and Senior Manager at the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), Alexander Awere-Kyere.
Rabiu Alhassan, during the presentation, highlighted how social media platforms are not investing as much in tackling misinformation and disinformation in Africa, citing the overload of unverified information during COVID-19 and the weaponisation of inaccurate information during elections, resulting in the undermining of democracies and growing distrust in state institutions.
He also pointed at how bad actors in the disinformation space continue to rely on troll farms and bot networks to flood the information space, making it difficult for social media users to differentiate between reliable and unreliable information.
Other panellists also focused on the Sahel, where online misinformation and disinformation have become critical characteristics of conflict dynamics, with various actors leveraging digital platforms to propagate competing narratives amidst widespread insecurity.
The webinar, generally addressed the weaponisation of information, ranging from subtle disinformation campaigns to extensive cyberattacks, and how that further complicates efforts to foster regional stability.
The session also identified that dis/misinformation is deployed as a powerful tool by both state and non-state actors to manipulate public opinion, create divisions, incite violence, undermine trust in institutions and radicalize vulnerable populations, which complicates peacebuilding efforts and exacerbates regional instability.
