African delegations study India’s digital identity systems under UNDP mission

Delegations from several African countries have completed a two‑week mission to India, learning from its experience in building digital public infrastructure (DPI).

The visit was part of UNDP’s Africa Accelerator for Digital Public Infrastructure (AA4DPI) programme. Delegates from Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Zambia travelled from northern to southern India, with stops in Delhi and Pune and Bengaluru.

“The economics of DPI are now impossible to ignore,” said Jide Okeke, director, UNDP regional programme for Africa. “UNDP estimates that it could raise GDP in emerging economies by 20 to 30 percent by 2030 by cutting transaction costs, formalizing activity and unlocking productivity.”

They met Indian institutions including the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The mission explored how digital identity, payments and data systems support services in agriculture, healthcare and social protection.

In Pune, agricultural platforms such as MahaVISTAAR, which provide farmers with digital tools and information, were studied. In Bengaluru, discussions focused on the ecosystems needed to scale DPI involving government, academia, civil society and the private sector.

“What a mission like this creates is a transfer of knowledge and a coalition, where we learn from each other’s strengths and sharpen our shared sense of what we can build together,” said Madhuchandra R, chief operating officer at the Centre for Open Societal Systems (COSS).

UNDP officials said the mission highlights the value of South‑South cooperation. Angela Lusigi, UNDP India Resident Representative, noted that countries can adapt lessons from India to their own contexts. Global South countries working with each other is a marked trend — Malawi has sought out Ghana to share its experience with digital government implementation. Gabon turned to Rwanda for digital identity and government expertise, with the latter strategically making DPI  a key export.

The AA4DPI programme is part of UNDP’s wider effort to link African nations with partners such as Brazil, Estonia and Singapore to advance inclusive, secure digital identity and infrastructure. The likes of Benin, Mozambique and Zambia have looked to Ethiopia for stewardship considering the success of the Fayda digital ID.

The accelerator initiative was unveiled at the UN Open Source Week 2026 in June alongside a policy paper titled “Digital Public Infrastructure in Africa: A leapfrog catalyst for inclusive growth and prosperity.” The paper maps strategy for African decision-makers to go from fragmented digital projects to cohesive national systems.

The paper uses keywords — or “the 5Cs” — to lay out political commitment, capacity via investment in domestic technical expertise, capital for sustained investment, community involvement and collaboration through shared standards and open protocols to enable secure cross-border data exchange and regional integration.

The paper emphasizes interoperability, stating that while Africa has no shortage of digital ambition, many well-intentioned pilots have actually failed to deliver systemic change for governments because they cannot “speak” to one another. It echoes what Margins ID Group’s CEO Moses Biden Jr emphasized at the ID4Africa AGM in May.

Article Topics

Africa  |  Africa Accelerator for Digital Public Infrastructure (AA4DPI)  |  digital public infrastructure  |  India  |  UNDP