Nigeria 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 a media relations tool that grants organisations open access to a network of credible newsrooms/journalists across the world to fight disinformation or brand misrepresentation.

Disinformation and misinformation cost the global economy up to $80 billion yearly, 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 stakeholders at the event, the co-founder of SquirrelPR, 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: “With a growing media database of no fewer than 1,700 newsrooms and journalists covering both traditional and digital media channels across Africa, the 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 is aimed at advancing the development of promising technologies that offer innovative solutions to help expose, understand, or counter disinformation, propaganda, and violent extremism in Africa.