Regional DPI initiative supports KYC, digital ID interoperability across 16 countries

A strategic partnership that underpins a regional framework for the building of cross-border digital public infrastructure (DPI) to drive financial inclusion in Southern Africa has been unveiled.

The move aims to ensure the building of shared interoperable DPI through a collaboration between the Committee of Central Bank Governors of the Southern African Development Community (SADC); Co-Develop, the nonprofit fund that promotes the adoption of safe and inclusive DPI; as well as FinMark Trust, a financial inclusion advocacy organization. Co-Develop is a partner of the 50-in-50 campaign which is also pushing for inclusive, safe and interoperable DPI for country’s of the Global South by 2028.

In a joint announcement, the partners say they hope to put in place Africa’s first regional DPI initiative which shall focus on a federated digital Know Your Customer (eKYC) ecosystem across 16 SADC member states. SADC member states include: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The idea behind the framework, they say, is to speed up efforts aimed at fighting cross-border financial exclusion, fix existing fragmented national ID systems and encourage the use of shared digital infrastructure.

Per the terms of the agreement, FinMark Trust will provide its technical expertise for the implementation of integrated DPI components, namely federated digital ID, interoperable data exchange and enhanced digital payments. This follows a pilot which saw real-time cross border ID verification for payments done between South Africa and Lesotho, the announcement indicates.

It notes that despite existing national digital ID systems in those countries, the lack of interoperability prevents access to banking and digital payments for more than 3.7 million nationals who live outside their home countries.

As a result of these siloed national ID systems, financial institutions find it extremely difficult to verify identities across borders, something that has led to over reliance on informal and cash-based transactions which are insecure and inefficient.

The partners believe the new framework can help circumvent this problem such that instead of negotiating 16 bilateral agreements among the 16 countries of the region, they can instead partner up for a shared and reusable digital infrastructure.

The initiative is expected to benefit from the advanced DPI implementation experience in the SADC region.

“The SADC region’s leadership in regional DPI demonstrates how infrastructure thinking can unlock transformation at unprecedented scale,” said Robert Karanja, Co-Develop’s senior director for Africa. “This partnership amplifies existing capabilities while creating new possibilities for cross-border inclusion.”

Also commenting on the framework, FinMark Trust’s CEO, Brendan Pearce, said: “We’re proud to be the technical support for this effort, from diagnostics and pilots to policy engagement, our role is to ensure that digital infrastructure is inclusive by design, so that those who need it most – vulnerable and marginalized communities – are not left behind.”

While Co-Develop and its partners hope this framework will set the standard for regional DPI development in Africa, other discussions for continent-wide interoperability of DPI components like digital ID are also advancing.

Article Topics

Africa  |  Co-Develop  |  cross-border data sharing  |  digital public infrastructure  |  financial inclusion  |  interoperability  |  Southern African Development Community (Sadc)