Nigerian startup, SquirrelPR joined other stakeholders to discuss the impact of disinformation in Africa at the recent US-West Africa Tech Challenge held in Abidjan, Côte D’Ivoire.

SquirrelPR is Africa’s premiere media relations tools provider that grants organisations speedy and open access to a network of credible newsrooms/journalists across the world to fight disinformation or any other information that could lead to brand misrepresentation or reputational damage.

Disinformation and misinformation cost the global economy up to $80 billion annually, according to a recent report, and with the SquirrelPR tools, organisations can significantly mitigate, if not completely eradicate the impact of disinformation on their operations.

Demonstrating the SquirrelPR solution as one of the finalists for the challenge to global stakeholders at the event, the co-founder of SuirrelPR, James Ezechukwu said: “SquirrelPR leads the charge for fighting disinformation that could lead to violent extremism on the continent through a suite of solutions aimed at holistically solving the problem of disinformation, especially with the growing disruptive influence of generative artificial intelligence in the spread of disinformation”.

He added that “with a growing media database of no fewer than 1,700 newsrooms and journalists covering both traditional and digital media channels across Africa, Middle East and Europe, SquirrelPR remains at the forefront of fighting disinformation with far greater speed than that with which disinformation spreads”.

The U.S.-West Africa Tech Challenge aims to advance the development of promising technologies that offer innovative solutions to help expose, understand, or counter disinformation, propaganda, and violent extremism in Africa.

It was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Global Engagement Center, in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, United Nations Development Programme, She Code Africa, Impact Hub Abidjan, and Becera.