Africa must take advantage of South Africa’s G20 presidency to expand DPI gains: Experts

Many African countries are already at full throttle with regard to their digital public infrastructure (DPI) journeys, but governments have been advised to take advantage of South Africa’s G20 presidency in order to leverage DPI tools for rationalized public service delivery and a booming digital economy.

In an opinion piece, two digital transformation experts, Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani (Director-general of the Department of Communications & Digital Technologies in SA) and Dr Paulin Basinga (Africa Director for the Gates Foundation), argue that because properly built DPI systems hold immense promise for socio-economic growth on the continent, efforts must be amplified in line with South Africa’s G20 presidency priorities which include inclusive economic growth, AI and innovation, and financial sustainability, to name these few.

South Africa assumed the G20 presidency in December 2024, and its mandate runs till November 2025.

Citing examples, the authors discuss instances where DPI has been able to address government social program inefficiencies and problems such as fraud, the misallocation of resources and outright bureaucratic red tape. They mention the case of India’s Andhra Pradesh state where biometric ID verification for a social welfare problem has drastically curbed fraud, as well as the situation in Brazil where digital ID was used to get social relief funds across to about 70 million people during the biting years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given the profundity of DPI’s impact on countries and people, the writers make the case for DPI that is safe, inclusive, trustworthy, and interoperable, urging African governments to do away with siloed or fragmented infrastructure that swells up cost, favours duplication and slows down results. They hold that African countries can emulate these examples and build DPI systems that make social protection system more efficient and resilient, breaking away from traditional and analogue systems which have clearly revealed their limitations.

They believe having the right DPI tools in place, countries will not only facilitate access to public and private sector services, but will also boost their digital economies and build the connecting bridges that are badly need for cross-border trade, especially in the era of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).

The AfCFTA is the world’s biggest free trade zone and hopes to increase trade among African countries by more than 50 percent, and expand the continent’s economy to about $29 trillion by 2050. To achieve these goals, it is important to have DPI infrastructure that can facilitate payments, and data exchange among countries engaged in trade transactions, and in a manner that prioritizes trust, integrity and security, they note. Arguments have been made before about the place of DPI in transforming digital trade in Africa.

To the experts, digital ID is one of the core components of DPI which countries must effectively begin with, because a robust digital ID system is vital for ensuring trusted ID verification for people transacting in the digital world.

While countries must ensure that DPI systems create the enabling environment for innovation, they must also build mechanisms that drive inclusion among marginalized groups such as those in rural communities, while also looking up to the UN’s Universal DPI Safeguards Framework as a critical guide, the experts posit.

Fintech-telecoms infrastructure synergy

Another telecoms expert Kunle Adebiyi of Nigeria also believes that aspects like financial inclusion can progress with the available of the right infrastructure for instant digital payments.

The former executive of MTN Nigeria tells Tech Cabal in a chat that fintech and telecoms infrastructure must move together, because “you can’t scale fintech in Africa without telecom infrastructure.”

“This is what we’re talking about when we say infrastructure powers inclusion,” he says, adding that such inter-dependence has helped a country like Nigeria reduce reliance on cash transactions by about 59 percent in the last couple of years.

He further notes that because financial services often pass through mobile connectivity as a gateway, reliable connectivity is therefore vital in giving traction to innovation payment products.

Emulating India’s DPI shining example

When it comes to DPI, India’s model offers one of the best possible examples anywhere in the world.

Anchored on the Aadhaar biometric digital ID whose numbers keeps growing, the country has over the years built what it calls the ‘India Stack,’ a DPI ecosystem that is driving the country’s digital economy.

In a recent discussion with GovInsider after winning a lifetime achievement award during the Future of Governments Awards 2024, the brain behind the creation of Aadhaar, Nandan Nilekani, advised that building a DPI stack requires getting things right from the onset.

While keeping things simple, Nilekani said every perspective – including the technology and business side of things – must be carefully factored into the planning, noting that driving adoption for the Aadhaar needed incentives to be given to people.

He went further to explain how the digital ID and DPI stack has facilitated life for citizens, saying this has gone a long way in empowering them especially with the facilitation of digital payments using the UPI, which India is working to extend to the world.

Nilekani, who was recognized for his leadership prowess and knack for digital innovation, believes DPI will be better if built on open-source technology, mentioning the example of MOSIP which is being used by many countries to set up their digital ID systems.

For a country like Kenya which is also pursuing its own DPI journey, suggestions have been made for the government to be aware of human rights considerations.

Kenya’s digital ID system, for example, has come under repeated criticism over human rights concern.

At a recent workshop, the Chairperson of the Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists, Protas Saende, lauded the country’s DPI efforts with projects like the Maisha Namba, but warned the government to take note of certain risks that can jeopardize the goals of such undertakings.

The workshop was meant to discuss how Kenya can build a DPI ecosystem that “serves humanity and not the other way around.”

DPI in focus at ID4Africa 2025

Given the growing importance of DPI, one of the key components of the concept will be in focus at the 2025 Annual General Meeting of ID4Afica, coming up in May.

According to organizers of the event, the theme of the year is “Digital identity at scale: Prioritizing use, accelerating impact,” with the lineup of speakers unveiled in February.

DPI will feature prominently in several sessions during the event scheduled for May 20-23, with discussions aimed at addressing challenges and methods of scaling identity systems.

Biometric Update will be reporting from the event venue in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital inclusion  |  digital public infrastructure  |  financial services  |  G20  |  government services  |  ID4Africa 2025