Filling Tobacco Control Data Gaps in Nigeria

Development Gateway’s Aminata Camara Badji and Seember Ali discuss the Nigeria’s Tobacco Control Data Initiative Dashboard, which launched June 28, 2022.
The TCDI Nigeria Dashboard Launched by Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health

On June 28, 2022, the Tobacco Control Data Initiative (#TCDI) Nigeria Dashboard was launched by Nigeria’s Honorable Minister of State for Health Dr. Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora.
Since 2019, Development Gateway has collaborated with University of Cape Town’s Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products (REEP) to address barriers to data use in tobacco control by consolidating available and trusted tobacco control data, identifying and filling data gaps, and creating an online resource for policymakers to access the relevant data needed to pass and monitor tobacco control legislation. These findings have come together through TCDI, which is supported in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented in South Africa in addition to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia.
Episode 3, Season 1 | Geography: Expanding & Deepening DG’s Regional Footprint

In Episode 3 of “Data… for What?!”, Development Gateway’s new podcast, we explore how we are prioritizing our geographical focus in the coming years. Conversations with Vanessa Baudin Sanchez, Carmen Cañas, and Charlene Migwe-Kagume highlighted the opportunities and challenges of expanding our portfolio in Central America and deepening our work and partnerships in West, East, and Southern Africa.
What We Know So Far: Best Practices in Developing Data Governance Frameworks

Data governance frameworks are essential as data and technology continue to become increasingly central to how governments, institutions, groups, and individuals all interact with one another and among themselves. Here are the best practices DG has learned in creating data governance frameworks so far.
Episode 2, Season 1 | “Data…for What?!:” Expanding into Education, Media/Disinformation & Youth

In Episode 2 of “Data…for What?!,” a podcast series from Development Gateway: an IREX Venture (DG) which explores our new strategic plan, Josh Powell met with experts from DG and IREX to discuss DG’s expansion into the education, media and disinformation, and youth sectors. The conversations explore the most pressing challenges and greatest opportunities for data and technology to positively impact these sectors and discuss how these trends are likely to play out in the years ahead. Based on these trends, the experts explain the unique fit for DG’s skills and specific opportunities for collaboration that align with the vision of DG’s partnership with IREX, which has a long and successful history working in each sector.
Introducing: Data… for What?!

To help contextualize the new Strategic Plan, we are launching a podcast series called Data… for What?! This series consists of 5 episodes in Josh Powell and Vanessa Goas talk to DGers throughout the organization – as well as collaborators within our strategic partner, IREX – about how and why we prioritized the various elements of the new strategy. In this first episode, we talk to Kristin Lord, President and CEO of IREX about how our partnership fits into the Strategic Plan; and to Aleks Dardelli, Executive Vice President of IREX and Chair of DG’s Board of Directors, about the process of putting the Plan together at this opportune, yet precarious, global moment.
Nigeria’s Changing NPK Market (Part 2)

In their second blog exploring Nigeria’s changing fertilizer market, Vinisha Bhatia-Murdach and Scott Wallace dive deep into the details of the NPK fertilizer market and explore how Nigeria became a leader in this space. They also discuss why the VIFAA Nigeria dashboard is an important part of ensuring access to information at each point in fertilizer supply chain.
Thinking of Investing in a Data Ecosystem for Sustainable Development?

Many factors must be considered before investing in a data ecosystem for sustainable development, including the objective of the assessment, the focus level, and specific goals for data outputs. IREX’s Jesus Melendez Vicente and DG’s Carmen Cañas would like to share a few insights and questions to help you get started, including a curated list of tools for data ecosystem assessments.
Announcing: Data-Driven Decision-Making Mapping in Education

Development Gateway: an IREX Venture (DG) and IREX, in partnership with the Hewlett Foundation, are pleased to announce a new research program supporting data-driven decision-making in education in East and West Africa. This two-year, $300,000 project to map education data and decision ecosystems in Kenya and Senegal will focus on the variety of administrative, census, and survey data collected to implement and monitor primary and secondary education. The goal is to holistically understand the barriers to more effective data collection, sharing, interoperability, and use. By understanding the barriers, we can better design support for more robust education data ecosystems that drive better learning outcomes.