These are not theoretical projects. They are live and pipeline initiatives that demonstrate what the DIH model produces when applied to Africa's real challenges — in media, agriculture, civic life, and the circular economy.
The DIH backs and builds initiatives where it sees a specific, addressable gap — and where the Dataphyte ecosystem's distinctive combination of data, media, and civic technology can genuinely accelerate progress.
A media cooperative for AI data rights — organising African publishers to claim their share of the AI economy.
Every day, AI companies and big tech platforms crawl African newsrooms, blogs, and content platforms — scraping decades of journalism, analysis, and creative work without attribution, licensing, or payment. The content produced by Africa's media ecosystem is training the world's most powerful AI systems, and Africa is getting nothing in return.
KolaBit changes that. It is a media cooperative model that organises African publishers, newsrooms, and content creators to collectively negotiate fair compensation from the platforms that profit from their work. By building collective bargaining infrastructure, KolaBit gives media organisations the numbers and the legal standing to claim a share of the value their journalism creates.
A data and intelligence platform for Nigeria's smallholder farmers — built for how farming actually works, not how it's theorised.
Nigeria's smallholder farmers — who produce the majority of the country's food — face a persistent information asymmetry. They plant based on last season's prices, they sell at farm gates to the only buyer available, and they access inputs through informal chains with no price transparency or quality assurance. Igba addresses this directly.
Igba is a data and intelligence platform for smallholder farmers and agri-value chain actors. It makes market information, inputs, and services accessible through technology designed for the actual realities of Nigerian agriculture — low connectivity, low literacy, and a patchwork of informal infrastructure that has always been the sector's real backbone.
The $10 million Nigeria Media Resilience Investment Fund — a sovereign wealth approach to keeping journalism alive.
Nigeria's independent media is under siege — from strategic lawsuits designed to intimidate, from advertisers pulled by political pressure, and from a business model that has been in structural decline for a decade. Philanthropic grants and short-term donor support are not enough to build the institutional resilience that accountability journalism needs to survive.
The NMRIF is different. It is a $10 million fund that pools capital from civil society organisations, philanthropic institutions, and development agencies — investing in stable instruments to generate a 10 to 15% annual return, then deploying those returns across six strategic reinvestment streams that build media resilience from the ground up.
A circular economy programme turning Nigeria's waste crisis into a wealth creation opportunity.
Nigeria generates an enormous volume of waste — and most of it is an untapped resource. The Wealth to Waste programme is a circular economy initiative that transforms Nigeria's waste challenge into a wealth creation opportunity — building the enterprise models, supply chains, and technologies that make sustainability economically compelling for communities, entrepreneurs, and governments.
The programme is built around the conviction that environmental sustainability in Africa cannot be donor-funded in perpetuity. It must be designed to be economically self-sustaining — creating livelihoods, generating enterprise value, and building waste-to-value supply chains that work at community scale across Nigeria and Africa.
The DIH directs capital, expertise, and infrastructure towards six sectors where the gap between challenge and solution is widest — and where African innovation has the highest potential for transformative, lasting impact.
Smallholder farmer platforms, AgriTech ventures, supply chain innovations, and market information systems improving food security and rural livelihoods.
Health-tech solutions, community health data systems, and innovations expanding access to quality healthcare — with focus on underserved and rural regions.
Edtech, alternative credentialing, learning infrastructure, and AI skills programmes equipping young Africans for the digital and knowledge economy.
Climate adaptation tools, early warning systems, and resilience-building solutions for communities on the frontline of climate change across Africa.
Off-grid and clean energy ventures closing Nigeria and Africa's persistent energy access gap — transitioning communities to reliable, affordable, sustainable power.
Solutions at the intersection of environmental protection, natural resource governance, and community rights — from forests to waterways to urban sustainability.
A dedicated financing instrument for young and emerging innovators — providing pre-seed capital, in-kind support, and access to the DIH's full infrastructure and network.
This is not a traditional grant programme. The Catalytic Fund is designed to de-risk early-stage ventures, attract co-investment, and create conditions for sustainable, market-based solutions.