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By Winnie Kamau
Nairobi, Kenya: Africa’s rapid adoption of digital public infrastructure is transforming how citizens access government and private services, but weak safeguards, digital exclusion and fragmented oversight are creating growing risks to human rights and democratic participation, a new continental report warns.
The 2026 State of Internet Freedom in Africa (SIFA) report, unveiled by Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) during Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2026 (FIFAfrica26) in Mauritius, examines the growing use of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) across 11 African countries and its implications for privacy, inclusion, civic participation and democratic governance.
The study covered Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“DPI refers to foundational digital systems that allow governments, businesses and citizens to interact electronically. The report identifies three main components: digital identity, digital payments and data exchange platforms” the report explains.
According to the study, African governments are increasingly replacing fragmented government systems with interconnected digital platforms capable of sharing data, verifying identities, processing payments and delivering public services.
By the end of September 2026, 17 African countries were among 39 countries globally participating in the 50-in-5 campaign, an initiative aimed at helping countries design, launch and scale components of digital public infrastructure.
The report says early progress in countries including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Togo and Uganda, alongside continental digital transformation ambitions and support from development partners, has accelerated the adoption of DPI.
But the report cautions that technological progress is moving faster than the institutions and safeguards needed to protect citizens.
Digital Exclusion Remains A Major Concern
The study finds that people who are already digitally connected, formally documented and living in urban areas tend to benefit first from DPI systems.
Those facing barriers such as poor connectivity, limited digital literacy, disability, poverty or weak civil registration systems risk being left behind.
“Rural communities, low-income people, older people, persons with disabilities, migrants and communities facing contested citizenship are particularly vulnerable to exclusion” the report identifies.
It cites concerns raised over digital identity systems in Kenya and Uganda, where refugees, stateless people and some rural communities have faced exclusion.
The report warns that DPI can reproduce existing inequalities when a person’s ability to access services depends on documentation, biometric records, addresses or other foundational data that may be missing or inaccurate.
As more public and private services rely on the same foundational systems, a failure in one record can have consequences across multiple areas of a person’s life.
A citizen, for example, could face difficulties accessing a service because of an incorrect or missing identity, citizenship, address or birth record held by another government agency.
Connectivity Failures Could Have Wider Consequences
The report also highlights the growing dependence of essential services on connectivity and interconnected digital infrastructure.
“A cable cut, power failure, cloud outage or internet disruption could simultaneously affect identity systems, payments and public services” the report warns.
For landlocked countries, the report says resilience can also depend on neighbouring states, border crossings and regional infrastructure-restoration arrangements.
The study further finds that although governments are increasingly pursuing digital sovereignty, including local data centres, data localisation and domestic digital infrastructure where many national DPI systems remain dependent on foreign financing, technology companies and international standards.
The report identifies organisations and actors including the World Bank, development partners, Modular Open-Source Identification Platform (MOSIP), telecommunications operators, global payment networks and technology vendors as playing significant roles in financing, developing or operating various DPI systems.
Democracy And Civic Participation At Risk
The report says the consequences of DPI extend beyond service delivery to democratic participation.
It warns that the growing convergence of foundational identity systems with electoral processes and telecommunications infrastructure could expose citizens to democratic risks.
“Network disruptions, inaccurate administrative records and restrictions on digital platforms can affect people’s ability to participate in public life and exercise civic freedoms”, according to the study.
“Technology-facilitated gender-based violence, online harassment and misogynistic disinformation are also identified as factors that can discourage women from participating in political and civic life” the report shows.
The report argues that DPI does not necessarily create underlying inequalities, but can reproduce or intensify them when systems fail to account for differences in documentation, disability, gender, income, geography or language.
No Clear Continental Leaders or Laggards
The study cautions against ranking African countries simply according to their level of digital development.
It finds that countries can make significant progress in one aspect of DPI while continuing to face serious weaknesses in areas such as oversight, access or legal remedy.
According to the report, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Ghana perform strongly on aspects of scale and payments, while Kenya and South Africa are comparatively stronger on institutional contestability.
The broader finding, however, is that progress is uneven.
The report says technical development, institutional safeguards and rights protection can advance at different speeds within the same country.
Call For Stronger Safeguards
The report recommends that governments conduct human rights, data protection and equality impact assessments before major DPI systems are introduced or significantly expanded.
It also calls for transparent information about the agencies responsible for systems, suppliers and financiers, as well as accessible complaint and correction mechanisms.
Governments are urged to maintain non-digital alternatives so that citizens who cannot access digital systems are not excluded from essential services.
Oversight institutions, meanwhile, should conduct regular audits of national identity databases, interoperability platforms and government-to-person payment systems, according to the report.
The study also calls on technology companies, telecommunications operators, banks and payment firms to conduct human-rights due diligence on high-risk DPI projects, particularly those involving identity, biometrics, data exchange and surveillance.
Development partners and DPI financiers are urged to link funding and expansion to evidence of inclusion, rights protection, effective oversight and access to remedy rather than relying primarily on measures such as enrolment numbers, infrastructure coverage or transaction volumes.
For civil society and the media, the report recommends greater scrutiny of DPI before systems are deployed, including investigation of procurement, system design, vendor arrangements, identity and authentication failures and the use of digital systems in elections.
Building Trust Into Africa’s Digital Future
The report concludes that DPI is becoming an increasingly important part of the relationship between African states and their citizens.
While interconnected digital systems can improve administrative efficiency and financial inclusion, the study warns that they are not neutral simply because they are technological systems.
“Technical failures, inaccurate records and poorly designed access requirements can trigger cascading exclusion, particularly among people already facing barriers to connectivity, documentation and digital literacy” the report notes.
The report argues that the long-term legitimacy and public trust of DPI will depend on whether rights protections are built into the systems from the beginning rather than introduced later as compliance measures.
It recommends accessible non-digital channels, stronger data-protection enforcement, independent oversight, resilient connectivity and timely access to legal remedies as key elements of a rights-respecting digital future for Africa.
