Dataphyte is a media, research and data analytics organisation with the mission to deploy data tools and technology for the socio-economic development of Nigeria.

Dataphyte collects and transforms data into accessible formats and produces insights and interactive visualisations for better decision-making. It provides access to data useful for public, private and development sectors.

Our goal is to fill the lacuna in data accessibility, especially in formats that support governance, policy analysis, and accountability work in Nigeria. Without doubt, policy and development planning is currently based on outdated datasets and often extrapolated estimates. As an intervention, Dataphyte was launched to provide the accountability and policy sectors with cleaner, analysed, easily-accessible and usable data to drive democracy and development in Nigeria.

Founder/Publisher

Joshua Olufemi is the Founder and Publisher of Dataphyte. Joshua Olufemi is a media innovation and development entrepreneur who believes that the media can recreate itself as a viable and sustainable pillar of good governance and global development.

Joshua has built an enviable career in the African media development and  non-profit management sector. He was the pioneer Program Director of the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, where he launched the leading social accountability and capacity development platforms in West Africa. These include UDEME (Budget Accountability), DUBAWA (Factchecking) in Nigeria and Ghana, LeaksNG (Whistleblowing and Collaborative Investigative Journalism), PHC Tracker (Primary Health Care Accountability), ElectionsNG (Electoral Accountability) PressAttackNG (Media Freedom), CampusReporterNG (NextGen Media Leadership) SpoorAfrica (Media and Terrorism),  PriceBoardNG (Public Procurement Accountability), FAACFacts (Natural Resource Accountability).

Joshua also doubled as the Knowledge and Innovation Lead for the Premium Times online newspaper. There, he launched the Premium Times Data Management Services, Data Service subsidiary of Premium Times. He was the only data journalist in the Premium Times Team that published the multiple award-winning Panama Papers and Paradise Papers in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). He has consulted for international organisations including the Publish What You Pay (Norway), The Facility for Oil Sector Transparency in Extractive Sector (FOSTER), Code for Africa and Natural Resouce Governance Institute (NRGI) among others.

Before joining PTCIJ, Joshua worked as a key program staff with the Institute for Media and Society leading the Community Radio Advocacy, Participatory Media for Conflict Resolution and Media Capacity Building work at the organisation. Joshua also had a stint at the Nigeria Leadership Initiative (NLI) where he worked as program staff.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Education and a master’s degree in Measurement and Evaluation. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria. Joshua is an alumnus of the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School where he bagged a Certificate in Global Fintech Program. He is also a  Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow

Mr Olufemi has completed several trainings including Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management Systems, Data Science, Project Management, Design Thinking, E-learning, Investigative and Data Journalism, GIS Mapping and Analytics, Media Innovation and Global Development.

Editorial Philosophy

Our organisation is envisioned to serve the public and the corporate sector with the right data and information service to power their growth and development. We decide the content of our data journalism by asking ourselves the following questions:

Does it represent the values of our national life? In response, we strive to deliver content that promotes the values and the dynamic cultures of our nation. We allow the constitution, the people it is written to protect and their socio-economic realities define our content.

‍Does it resonate with our team? We enshrine a team culture! So, we curate a story pot and decide together what story we should tell, how and when.

Does it reflect true humanity? We allow ourselves to listen to people’s expressions of passion, pleasantness, pressure and pains. We strive to animate them and look through the lens of data to help us promote the true value of each situation.

Does it respond to the quest for inclusion and equality? We deliberately seek to promote inclusion and equality across the dimensions of gender, ethnicity, abilities and social strata. We generate conversations that present today’s realities and promote dialogue that defines our tomorrow.

Our Mandate

Data Journalism

Digest compelling data-driven narratives that explain trends, and present them as intelligent information useful to make informed decisions and demand accountability

Interactive Visualizations

Generate charts and maps from available datasets, download in multiple formats and embed directly into your reports or web projects in seconds

Machine-readable datasets

Access downloadable data curated from government and non government sources in ready to use formats for your storytelling, research and analysis purposes.

Data Journalists Hub

We have observed the deficit in quality data journalism across the African media landscape. Also, the journalism pedagogy is yet to catch up with the demands for data journalism. Therefore, we made it our mandate to fill these gaps in pedagogy and practice. We are building this community of practice around data journalism, first in Nigeria and speedily across Africa.  If you are passionate about building or honing your data journalism skills, look no further because you are in the right place.

At the Data Journalists Hub, we share tips, tools and opportunities to make you a leader in the data journalism space. And we are here to cheer you on and celebrate your data journalism progress. Guess what? Being a member of the Data Journalists Hub makes you a volunteer contributor on Dataphyte! and free access to publish and showcase your data journalism content on Dataphyte.

Wouldn’t you rather join us?

Advertising, Partnership and Promotions

Do you have a product you would like to advertise? Do you want to promote progressive content about your organisation or issue? Then send us an email at [email protected] or call 234(0) 811 666 5321.

For partnerships and promotions, reach us via [email protected] or @dataphyte.