Reported networks
Influence operations targeting Africa
Short answer
- Campaigns documented, March 2024
- 189 across Africa 1
- Countries targeted
- At least 39 1
- Russia-sponsored campaigns
- 80, nearly 40 percent 1
- Largest Meta network, Q2 and Q3 2025
- 67 Facebook accounts, 70 Pages, about 621,400 Page followers 4
Aggregate counts
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies published its map of disinformation campaigns on 13 March 2024. It counted 189 campaigns, nearly four times the number reported in 2022, and called this surely an undercount 1.
It said Russia sponsored 80 campaigns targeting more than 22 countries. It named China as the second most prolific Africa-wide sponsor, and the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar among the other primary sponsors 1. It said East Africa had the highest share of domestically originating campaigns, over 60 percent 1.
Networks removed by Meta
Meta said the Ghana network was removed before the December 2024 election 3. It said the 2025 freelancer network spent about $107,300 on ads and its Pages posed as local media outlets 4.
| Report | Origin as Meta states | Targets | Size as reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q2 2024, August 2024 2 | Russia 2 | English and French speakers, including Francophone Africa 2 | 20 Facebook accounts, 14 Pages, 9 Instagram accounts 2 |
| Q4 2024, February 2025 3 | Ghana, linked to UAE firm DigitSol 3 | Ghana 3 | 42 Facebook accounts, 1 Page, 33 Instagram accounts 3 |
| Q4 2024, February 2025 3 | Benin, linked to Digited Consulting 3 | Primarily France 3 | 16 Facebook accounts, 6 Pages 3 |
| Q2 and Q3 2025, December 2025 4 | Local freelancers likely working on behalf of individuals in Russia 4 | Mali, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Angola, Benin 4 | 67 Facebook accounts, 70 Pages, 2 Groups 4 |
| Q2 and Q3 2025, December 2025 4 | Cameroon-based freelancer likely working on behalf of employees of RT 4 | Sub-Saharan Africa 4 | 10 Facebook accounts, 2 Pages, 9 Instagram accounts 4 |
| H1 2026 5 | Russia 5 | Including Angola, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa 5 | 37 Facebook accounts, 29 Pages 5 |
Other platform reports
OpenAI said in October 2025 that Stop News, a Russia-origin operation, used websites posing as news outlets in Africa and the UK, and much of its content concerned Africa 6. Its core X account, Newstop Africa, had 172 followers as of August 2025 6.
Google's Q1 2025 bulletin listed 31 YouTube channels linked to Nigeria posting pro-Russia content critical of Ukraine and the West in English 7.
EEAS findings on Africa
The 3rd EEAS report, covering November 2023 to November 2024, says members of the Alliance of Sahel States, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, were frequent targets of Russian FIMI. It linked African Initiative to 18 incidents 9.
The 4th EEAS report says a distinct cluster targets sub-Saharan Africa, mostly in French and English, and that Facebook groups and pages are often used for African audiences 10. It lists Côte d'Ivoire among elections targeted by Russia in 2025 10. The 2nd report included elections in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo among nine elections analysed 8.
Common questions
Which country sponsors the most disinformation in Africa?
The Africa Center counted Russia as sponsor of 80 of 189 campaigns, nearly 40 percent, as of March 2024 1.
Are all Africa-focused operations foreign?
No. The Africa Center found over 60 percent of East African campaigns were domestic 1, and Meta removed a Ghana-based network targeting Ghana 3.
What is African Initiative?
The EEAS describes it as the central hub for Russian operations in Africa, linked to 18 incidents in its March 2025 report 9.
Do operators hire local people?
Meta reported local freelancers across sub-Saharan Africa likely working on behalf of individuals in Russia, in its December 2025 report 4.
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Sources
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies: Mapping a Surge of Disinformation in Africa (13 March 2024)
- Meta: Q2 2024 Adversarial Threat Report (August 2024)
- Meta: Q4 2024 Adversarial Threat Report (February 2025)
- Meta: Adversarial Threat Report, Second and Third Quarter 2025 (December 2025)
- Meta, GitHub: Indicators of Compromise: Russia-Based Influence Operation Network Targeting Sub-Saharan Africa (Adversarial Threat Report H1 2026)
- OpenAI: Disrupting malicious uses of AI: an update (October 2025)
- Google: TAG Bulletin: Q1 2025 (15 May 2025)
- EEAS: 2nd EEAS Report on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Threats: A Framework for Networked Defence (January 2024)
- EEAS: 3rd EEAS Report on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Threats, Exposing the architecture of FIMI operations (March 2025)
- EEAS: 4th EEAS Report on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Threats, Dismantling the FIMI House of Cards (March 2026)
Related
- Meta's adversarial threat reports explained
What Meta's adversarial threat reports contain, how each network entry is laid out, and what the Q4 2024, Q1 2025 and Q2/Q3 2025 reports listed.
- Commercial influence for hire in official takedown reports
How Meta, OpenAI, Google and the EU have reported marketing and PR firms behind covert influence networks, with firm names as each report gives them.
- EU reports on foreign information manipulation and interference
What the EEAS reports on foreign information manipulation and interference count, the periods they cover, and how they classify channels.
- Influence operations targeting elections
Election-related networks reported by Meta, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and the EEAS from 2023 to 2025, with origins as each body attributed them.