PREMIUM TIMES journalist selected for West Africa DPI Fellowship

PREMIUM TIMES’ journalist Majeed Bakare has been selected for the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Journalism Fellowship, an initiative spearheaded by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in partnership with Co-Develop.
Mr Bakare, who covers the Nigeria’ National Assembly, was selected alongside 44 journalists from 45 news media organisation in four countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, and the Republic of Benin.
The Fellowship, in its second phase, aims to amplify public awareness, participation, and uptake of digital public infrastructure, as well as digital public goods and services. The overarching goal is to facilitate the inclusive adoption of digital public infrastructure in West Africa.
The three-month fellowship programme will run from November to January 2025, followed by a three-month post-fellowship period for the production of special reports on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and Digital Public Goods (DPGs).
Through specialised workshops, mentorship, and hands-on story production, the Fellowship seeks to equip participants with skills to create impactful reports on topics such as national digital identification systems, online data security, and digital governance.
Mr Majeed’s selection reaffirms PREMIUM TIMES’ commitment to high-quality journalism that addresses critical issues in West Africa. His participation will contribute to raising awareness and promoting digital inclusion in the region, an essential component of sustainable development and technological progress.
“Africa’s digital revolution requires strong digital public infrastructure that will ensure inclusion and fair development,” Mr Bakare said in response to his selection.

About Bakare

Mr Bakare specialises in political and governance reporting, with a special interest in elections and the legislature. He also has good competence in election coverage.
In 2023, he covered the Hajj exercise in Saudi Arabia and has extensive experience reporting on elections across the country.
Mr Majeed, an Economics graduate, is renowned for his impactful work on the legislature and elections, as well as his investigative reports that have driven significant reforms.

Other fellows

The organisers said after a thorough selection process, the 45 fellows were selected from a pool of 291 applications received for the second phase of the Fellowship programme. The Fellows comprise 28 (62 per cent) males and 17 (37 per cent) females from Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo.
Other fellows from Nigeria are Justina Ashishana (The Nation), Amos Aluko (Sahara Reporters), Oluwatobi Odeyinka (Ripples Nigeria), Flora Iweanya (Orange FM), Samson Akintaro (Nairametrics), Babaji Usman (Wikkitimes), Zulaiha Danjuma (Kano Focus), Ibukun Eniola (News Agency), Emmanuel Uti (FIJ), Godfrey George (The Punch), Bolanle Olabintan (TheCable), Idris Ibrahim (Leadership), Funmilola Afolabi (Crest FM), Ibrahim Adeyemi (HumAngle), Precious David-Ogaga (NTA), Vanessa Richard-Bassey (Sparking FM), Alfred Ajayi (Federal Radio Corporation) and Chinenye Anuforo (Daily Sun).