Justin Arenstein, South Africa, is founder and executive director of Africa's largest investigative technology and data journalism initiative, Code for Africa (CfA). CfA operates technology labs in seven African countries, and works with newsrooms in a further 22 countries.
Prior to founding CfA, Arenstein established and ran southern Africa's largest independent investigative news agency, AENS, after being fired from the Caxton Group in 1994 for campaigning for equal pay for black and white journalists. AENS grew into regional social justice wire service, winning a string of international journalism awards for its investigative reports on corruption and state capture.
Arenstein’s own investigative work resulted in the jailing of a senator, and two speakers of the Legislature along with the dismissal of a provincial premier and cabinet ministers.
One transnational story, on money laundering and rogue intelligence agents, prompted arrests of suspects in the United States, Kenya, and Switzerland.
