Takwimu Africa launches open data platform for development champions

Africapractice, ihub and Code for Africa, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, have announced a launch of Takwimu – an Africa-focused digital information service for people working in the human development field.

The launch, which was marked with a panel discussion on ‘Democratising Access to Data: Harnessing the Power of Actionable Insights for Decision-making in Nigeria’ and moderated by Yinka David-west, academic director, Lagos Business School, had Joe Abah, country director, DAI; Laoye Jaiyeola, CEO Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG); Gabriel Okeowo, CEO, Budgit; and Musa Ali-baba, CEO, Teasy Mobile in a panel discussion.

“We are happy to be playing a small part in helping organisations working to create sustainable change across the continent find and use the information they need to participate more effectively,” Onyebuchi Ajufo, spokesperson for Takwimu, said in a statement.

“We would like to thank the many talented NGOS, development officers, data scientists and journalists who have contributed to building Takwimu and we hope the service is

a useful contribution to the African development community,” Ajufo said.

‘ Takwimu’ is a Kiswahili word loosely translating to data or information that empowers African change-makers with access to high-quality analysis and data, thereby supporting their work to educate, influence and advocate for deeper development impact.

It provides expert analysis of the key stakeholders, decision processes, policies, organisations and budgets that are driving development outcomes - combined with access to authoritative sources of national and subnational statistics in the health, agriculture, education and financial inclusion sectors.

All Takwimu contents are visualised and packaged to be easily understood and freely shared. The goal is to make it much easier for development champions and storytellers to find, download, and share high-quality analysis and data visuals in their own materials.

Takwimu also aims to stimulate broader participation in development policy and programming.

Takwimu currently covers ten countries: Burkina Faso, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The service is currently available in English only, with a version for French speakers to be released later in the year.