Africa Elects is a pan-African media specializing in election coverage and socio-electoral data analysis. Together with our American, Asian, European and Oceanian sister projects, we contextualize the data for free for tens of thousands of followers on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Africa Elects’ work attempts to break the national narrative and report local politics from a transnational perspective.
A team of 14 volunteers runs Africa Elects. We reinvest 100% of our income into Africa Elects.
Our vision
For too long, racism, neo-colonialism and lack of easily accessible information have damaged the global understanding of African politics. We try to participate, to our extent, in creating freely accessible education materials and developing a pan-African democracy led by a politically empowered citizenry.
Our mission
We aim to make big data related to polls and elections accessible for researchers, journalists, politicians, and citizens for free and across borders.
Contact Us
General Inquiries: contact@africaelects.com
Apply to join: https://forms.gle/acRnhRSisu8rBTkx8
Adrian Elimian
Team Coordinator | Nigeria Correspondent
Adrian has been covering polls and elections in Nigeria for Africa Elects since April 2021. He is currently studying at the George Washington University.
Alec Soltes
Chad and Cameroon Correspondent
Alec Soltes joined Africa Elects in 2024. He studied at the University of Virginia and is currently a contributor to the geopolitical intelligence magazine Geopolitical Monitor and was previously an analyst with the Youtube channel CaspianReport. He is primarily responsible for covering elections in Chad and Cameroon.
Alex Figurski
Central African Republic Correspondent
Alex joined Africa Elects in January 2022, covering politics in the Central African Republic. Though based in London, he maintains contact with journalists and politicians in Bangui and has written research on Russian intervention in the Central African Republic. He also edits the Europe Elects Podcast for our sister organisation, Europe Elects.
Benjamin Malloy
Niger and Tunisia Correspondent
Benjamin Malloy joined Africa Elects in 2024. He studied at the University of Notre Dame and is a law student at the University of Pittsburgh. His research projects have focused on the Maghreb (Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco) as well as Russia/Ukraine, Islamic law countries, and Niger.
Dennis Colley
Mauritius, Seychelles, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Correspondent
Dennis has been part of Africa Elects since November 2020. He covers political developments, polls and elections in Mauritius, Seychelles and Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. In addition to his work at Africa Elects, Dennis is a member of America Elects and Oceania Elects.
Dylan Simpson
South Africa Support Correspondent
Dylan Simpson joined Africa Elects in 2024 as the support correspondent for South Africa. He is currently studying Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield.
John Chibona
Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Zambia Correspondent
John joined Africa Elects in January 2022, covering polls and elections in his home country of Botswana, as well as in the Southern African countries of Lesotho, Namibia, and Zambia. Additionally, he is active in a political youth organisation in Botswana. He has a deep interest in psephology, geopolitics and party systems.
Juan Pablo Mesa Rodriguez
Angola, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe Correspondent
Juan Pablo covers polls, elections, and political developments in Portuguese-speaking countries of Africa since April 2021. He covers polls, elections, and political developments in Portuguese-speaking countries. He also covers Caribbean countries for America Elects and East Timor for Asia Elects. Juan Pablo is currently studying for a postgraduate degree in marketing research and analytics.
Li Zhi Rieken
South Africa Correspondent
Li Zhi has been a part of Africa Elects since October 2022, making graphs as well as covering politics, polls, and elections in South Africa. He is currently studying political science and religion at George Washington University.
Tobias Gerhard Schminke
Founder
Tobias founded Africa Elects in 2018, four years after creating Europe Elects. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communication Science with a Political Science minor at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, and Haifa University, Israel. In 2019, Tobias obtained his Master of Arts in International Development Studies in Halifax, Canada. He is currently working towards his PhD at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.
Yusuf Barre
Somalia and Somaliland Correspondent
Yusuf joined Africa Elects in 2022, covering Somalia and Somaliland where he is originally from. He is currently studying Economics and Political Science. He speaks English and Somali.
Alexander Chreky
Social Media
Alexander Chreky joined Africa Elects in 2023. He received an MSc in Developmental Economics from SOAS University Of London and currently works in London as commodity analyst. He has previous experience in public policy and research roles. He currently covers social media for Africa Elects.
Matthias Troude
Overseas France Correspondent
Matthias Troude joined Africa Elects in 2023 to cover polls and elections in Overseas France. He also covers polls and elections in France and Monaco for Europe Elects. Matthias studied English at Paris-Saclay University and is now pursuing a journalism degree at Sorbonne University. In addition to his passion for the politics of his native country, he also has a keen interest in British and North American political affairs.
Since publishing polls or reporting on election irregularities is illegal in some countries, several volunteers have decided to remain anonymous or use authors’ names.
Africa Elects wants to thank team members who helped to build the project in the past:
Lucan Dylan Page (South Africa, 2020–2021)
Mathew Nicolson (English-speaking countries and Team coordination, 2019–2022)
Michael Fayé (Rwanda, 2020–2022)
Mohamed Fuad (Djibouti, 2021–2022)
Mohamed Nour Jallow (Tunisia, 2022)
Tidjani Saleh (Mauritania, Sahrawi Republic and Team coordination, 2021–2024)
