WikiTatafrik: an African response based on Wikipedia

Wikipedia, despite its immense knowledge base, imposes strict requirements on the verifiability of content, often based on recognized academic or media sources. This poses a particular challenge in Africa, where many stories and events are transmitted orally or receive little coverage in the official media. These stories, which are essential to African heritage, often find themselves excluded from Wikipedia, where the current criteria do not take these local realities into account.

Faced with this problem, a former Wikimedian has devised an innovative solution with the WikiTatafrik project.

Kossi Evenunye VIDEKE, also known as Thierry VIDEKE, founder of the TATAFRIK company, was born on May 27, 1990 in Agu-Nyogbo-Dzidzole. He is also a Togolese computer scientist and videographer, involved in writing articles related to Africa. 

In 2023, Thierry VIDEKE won several awards for his contributions to the Wikimedia Foundation as part of the Wikiconcourses organized during Africa Month. He won:

- 1st place in Togo and 3rd place in Africa with a "Certificate of Excellence" at the 4th edition of African Librarians' Week (#AfLibWk 4.0), organized by the African Library and Information Institutions Association (AfLIA) in Ghana.

- 1st place in the "Africa Day Challenge" for the highest number of downloads on Wiki Commons, with a "Certificate of Completion" in the international "#AmplifyAfrica Challenge", on the occasion of Africa Day, organized by AfroCROWD in the USA.

Promoting local sources and oral tradition

For him, it is imperative to recognize the importance of oral histories and information from local communities. He proposes collecting and saving these stories to make them usable as verifiable sources on Wikipedia. This approach would better reflect the reality of Africa, where history is often transmitted through oral tradition rather than academic writing.

Collaborating with African institutions

To support this approach, Thierry VIDEKE encourages collaboration with African universities and libraries. These institutions often possess information-rich archives which, if digitized, could serve as reliable bases for Wikipedia contributors. By drawing on these local resources, the aim is to strengthen the presence of African content on the platform.

Adapting rules to African contexts

Wikipedia's verifiability criteria are often ill-suited to African cultural realities, where important events and stories are not necessarily documented in world-renowned publications. Thierry VIDEKE believes that certain rules need to be adapted to take account of the continent's particularities. This would enable local information to gain legitimacy on Wikipedia, even if it is not considered noteworthy on a global scale.

Create specific initiatives for Africa

He also proposes to launch Africa-specific projects, facilitating the documentation of African cultures, languages and peoples on Wikipedia. These initiatives would aim to better represent the continent's cultural diversity and make this information accessible to a global audience.

Innovation by WikiTatafrik

In response to the current limitations of Wikipedia, Thierry VIDEKE has created WikiTatafrik; a digital platform designed to document and promotes African stories. The idea is to collect oral histories, local innovations and traditional knowledge often ignored by international encyclopedias such as Encyclopædia Universalis, Berose... This project, conceived as an alternative to Wikipedia, focuses on African culture and local realities.

Drawing on his 15 years' experience on Wikipedia, he also wants to train other Africans to use WikiCode to contribute to the platform. He plans to set up online tutorials to teach collaborative editing, conflict management and content revision.

He also makes a point of ensuring that contributors respect the basic principles of Wikitatafrik as on Wikipedia, such as neutrality, verifiability and notability of information, but also oriented towards oral tradition.

Technical support and training in digital tools

To ensure efficient management of the MediaWiki platform (the software behind Wikipedia), Thierry VIDEKE aims to teach contributors to use tools such as PHP, for server-side extensions, SQL for database queries, JavaScript for interactive features, and CSS for styling. He also stresses the importance of Python for task automation, as well as Shell scripts for server management.

Mastery of Wiki syntax will also be crucial for correctly formatting content, using templates and extensions, and maximizing the efficiency of contributions.

A non-profit project for an African voice in the digital world

WikiTatafrik is a non-profit project whose aim is to give Africa a place in the digital world. Thierry VIDEKE insists that this platform does not aim to compete with Wikipedia, but to offer an alternative adapted to African realities. His aim is to celebrate the cultural diversity of the black continent, while preserving its traditions and oral histories.

This African encyclopedia is seen as a means of inspiring local innovation, while encouraging young Africans to use digital tools to contribute to the development of their communities.

An appeal for pan-African support

For this project to reach its full potential, Thierry VIDEKE is appealing for pan-African support. This project needs the support of political and cultural leaders, as well as ordinary citizens across the continent. By bringing together all of Africa's driving forces, WikiTatafrik could transform the way the continent is represented online, offering a platform for documenting its cultures, languages and histories.

For more information, visit www.wiki.tatafrik.pro