The Africans Time editorial ethics are built around independence, accuracy, fairness, transparency, responsible sourcing and accountability.
These principles apply across our coverage of politics, economy, business, investment, trade, diplomacy, infrastructure, energy, technology, mining, critical minerals and regional developments. They guide how we evaluate evidence, describe uncertainty, handle commercial relationships and respond when published information needs to be corrected.
Our Ethical Principles
Independence
Editorial decisions are made independently of advertisers, sponsors, commercial partners, companies, governments and other outside organisations.
Editors and contributors should not promise favourable independent coverage in exchange for payment, advertising, sponsorship, access, travel, gifts or other benefits.
Commercial relationships should be disclosed where their existence is material to a reader's understanding of the content. The existence of a commercial relationship does not make related independent reporting automatically favourable or unfavourable.
Accuracy
The Africans Time aims to publish accurate, source-based journalism and to describe the limits of available evidence where certainty is incomplete.
Important factual details may include:
- names;
- dates;
- locations;
- titles and roles;
- statistics;
- financial figures;
- currency units;
- company ownership;
- project status;
- quotes;
- legal or regulatory claims;
- source attribution.
Accuracy also requires context. A fact can be technically correct but still misleading if the surrounding information changes its meaning.
Verified factual mistakes should be corrected.
Context
Facts should not be stripped of the context necessary to understand them.
Where relevant, we distinguish:
- an announcement from implementation;
- a commitment from actual expenditure;
- a proposed project from an operating project;
- a political claim from a verified fact;
- a forecast from historical data;
- a company statement from independently confirmed information.
Africa should not be treated as a single homogeneous market when national, regulatory, institutional or economic differences materially affect the story. Country-specific realities should be preserved where they are important to understanding risk, opportunity or implementation.
Fairness
Fairness means representing evidence, people and organisations accurately and avoiding wording that creates a materially misleading impression.
We aim to:
- avoid materially misrepresenting a source's position;
- keep quotations in context;
- distinguish allegations from established facts;
- include relevant context where claims are disputed;
- seek relevant responses to serious allegations where practical and appropriate;
- distinguish evidence from interpretation and opinion.
Fairness does not require unsupported claims to receive equal weight with strong evidence, nor does it require artificial balance where the underlying facts are not reasonably disputed.
Transparency
Readers should be able to distinguish independent editorial journalism from advertising, sponsorship and other commercial material.
Material conflicts, commercial relationships and sponsored arrangements should be disclosed where relevant to understanding the content. Transparency also means avoiding language that conceals whether a claim comes from a source, an advertiser or The Africans Time own editorial assessment.
Responsible Sourcing
The Africans Time prefers sources that can be evaluated and verified. The strength of a source is considered in relation to the specific claim it is being used to support.
Primary sources may include:
- government documents;
- central banks;
- regulators;
- court and legal records;
- national statistics offices;
- company filings and annual reports;
- official company statements;
- public datasets;
- procurement and project documents;
- the African Union;
- the AfCFTA Secretariat;
- African regional organisations;
- the African Development Bank;
- the World Bank;
- the International Monetary Fund;
- United Nations agencies.
Research organisations, academic sources, specialist publications and reputable media may be used for context or corroboration where appropriate.
Accountability
The Africans Time reviews credible concerns about factual accuracy and corrects verified errors.
Accountability also means distinguishing a genuine correction from a later update, clarification or disagreement with accurate reporting.
Readers can report possible factual errors to [email protected].
Right of Response
Where a story contains a serious factual allegation that could materially affect an identifiable person, company or institution, The Africans Time should consider seeking a response before publication where practical and appropriate.
A response can provide additional evidence, identify a factual misunderstanding or place a disputed claim in context. A failure to respond does not itself prove the allegation.
If a material response arrives after publication, the article may be updated where appropriate.
Conflicts of Interest
Editors, writers and contributors should disclose relevant financial, commercial, institutional or personal conflicts that could reasonably affect their work or create a reasonable perception that their judgement may be influenced.
Relevant conflicts may include:
- financial interests;
- employment or consulting relationships;
- significant business relationships;
- close personal relationships;
- direct involvement in a company, institution or project being covered.
An undisclosed material financial interest in a company or project being covered is inconsistent with The Africans Time editorial standards.
Gifts, Travel, Hospitality and Access
Gifts, hospitality, sponsored travel, samples, privileged access or other benefits must not determine independent editorial conclusions.
Editors and contributors should consider whether accepting a benefit could create an actual or perceived conflict.
Access to executives, officials, companies or events does not guarantee favourable reporting or limit the publication's ability to report critically on verified facts.
Unnamed Sources
The Africans Time prefers named, on-the-record sources and rarely uses unnamed sources.
An unnamed source may be considered only where:
- the source's identity is known to the relevant editor;
- the source is in a position to know the information;
- the information is significant;
- there is a legitimate reason for anonymity;
- the information cannot reasonably be obtained on the record;
- corroboration is sought where possible.
Anonymous sourcing should not be used merely to publish personal attacks, rumours, speculative claims or unsupported commercial allegations.
Business, Investment and Project Claims
Companies and governments frequently announce investments, projects and partnerships. Those announcements can be important news, but they do not automatically demonstrate implementation.
Where relevant, The Africans Time distinguishes between:
- proposed;
- announced;
- agreed;
- approved;
- financed;
- in procurement;
- under construction;
- operational;
- delayed;
- suspended;
- cancelled.
A press release is evidence that an announcement was made. It is not automatic proof that financing closed, construction started, capital was deployed or the intended outcome occurred.
Politics and Public Policy
Political reporting should distinguish documented facts from allegations, messaging, analysis and opinion.
Statements from governments, political parties, officials, opposition figures and institutions should be attributed where appropriate.
An official statement is not automatically adopted as The Africans Time own factual conclusion. The authority of a speaker does not remove the need to distinguish claims from verified evidence.
Sensitive and High-Impact Subjects
The Africans Time covers topics that can affect financial, legal, political, business, health, safety and other significant decisions.
These subjects require additional caution with evidence, language and certainty, particularly where unsupported claims could materially influence readers.
Our content does not constitute personalised:
- medical advice;
- mental-health advice;
- legal advice;
- financial advice;
- investment advice;
- tax advice;
- safety advice.
We avoid unsupported guarantees, diagnosis or treatment claims, unsupported financial or legal conclusions and fear-based framing that exceeds the available evidence.
Images, Data and Visual Integrity
Images should not materially mislead readers about the person, place, event or subject being reported.
Archival material should not be presented as current where that would create a false impression.
Charts, tables and visualisations should use relevant source data and should not selectively present information in a materially misleading way. Visual presentation should not imply a certainty, scale or trend unsupported by the underlying data.
Artificial Intelligence
The Africans Time uses artificial intelligence only for image generation and other visual preparation or editing.
AI is not used for article writing, drafting, rewriting, summarisation, research, fact-checking, source monitoring, translation, metadata, descriptions, tagging, categorisation, biographies or other editorial text.
AI must not fabricate facts, sources, quotations, people, organisations, events, documents, statistics, credentials or evidence.
AI-generated images may be used as illustrations, but they must not be presented as documentary photographs when they are not.
Human editors remain responsible for publication decisions.
Advertising, Sponsorship and Rankings
The Africans Time uses advertising, including Google AdSense, and accepts clearly labelled sponsored content.
Commercial relationships do not determine independent editorial conclusions.
Advertisers cannot purchase:
- positive independent coverage;
- suppression of accurate reporting;
- protection from corrections;
- a favourable independent review;
- a higher editorial ranking.
Paid visibility does not determine editorial ranking position.
We Avoid
- fabricated news;
- invented sources or quotations;
- plagiarism;
- commercial content disguised as independent journalism;
- unsupported allegations presented as facts;
- misleading charts or imagery;
- hidden material conflicts of interest;
- unnecessary sensationalism;
- promotional claims presented as verified editorial conclusions.
Editorial Responsibility
The Africans Time is led by Daniel Bekele, Founder, Owner, CEO and Editor-in-Chief.
- Editorial
- [email protected]
- Corrections
- [email protected]
- General
- [email protected]
Addis Ababa 1000
Ethiopia