As digital technologies reshape our societies, Africa must chart its own course. This begins with locally designed Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). DPI are the foundational systems such as responsible digital payments, digital ids and data sharing platforms, essential services comparable to water or electricity. With them, people can fully access their rights and benefit from the digital economy, and public services can reach everyone. 

As Africa leads the G20 for the first time with South Africa holding G20 Presidency and the African Union now fully part of the G20, this is the moment to earnestly champion Africa’s digital transformation—human-centered, inclusive, and sovereign. The DPI Roadmap Playbook, released on June 26, provides a practical guide to support countries develop actionable roadmaps tailored to their own national contexts, drawing from African and global examples. 

From fragmentation to a unified vision: The South African example 

South Africa launched its Digital Mzansi roadmap in May 2025. Faced with fragmented digital policies and systems, the government convened an interministerial working group co-chaired by the Ministry of Communications and National Treasury, with participation of civil society, technical experts, and community groups. This resulted in a strategy rooted in national priorities and focused on use cases including financial inclusion, healthcare, and social protection. The roadmap outlines interconnection of ID systems, creation of interoperable open data platforms, and transparent impact tracking for public services. 

Inspiring examples from Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana 

Kenya’s Digital Economy Blueprint embodies an ambitious strategy, particularly in e-government, driven by strong coordination among ministries, the private sector, and civil society. 

Rwanda, through its ICT Sector Strategic Plan (2024–2029), adopted a whole-of-society approach to digital transformation, prioritizing inclusion, improved public services, and economic development. This includes advancing DPI in areas like civil registration and public administration. 

Through its Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, Ghana demonstrates how DPI can promote equity and inclusive growth, notably through initiatives such as the Ghana Card and digital payment reforms in health and social protection. 

These efforts on our continent demonstrate that we already know how to build inclusive digital foundations. As we have articulated in the aspirations of an inclusive digital Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) through the Protocol on Digital Trade—we must swiftly connect and scale DPI through this shared vision. 

Sovereign, inclusive, and pragmatic roadmaps 

A DPI roadmap provides a governance tool that connects digital ambitions with practical implementation, clarifies institutional roles, sets priorities, and makes strategic decisions explicit; which sectors to prioritize, partnerships to pursue, and how to protect data. 

Digital transformation must be inclusive. South Africa’s process included focus groups with young women, “informal” workers, and grant recipients. Their input shaped use cases and service design, which ensure responsible delivery. 

Imported digital solutions—often developed without the ordinary African in mind, may offer short-term gains, but pose risks: closed technologies, opaque algorithms, and vendor lock-in. To ensure sovereignty, African countries must prioritize open standards, modular systems, local capabilities, and win-win partnerships. Regional cooperation is a must. Continental initiatives like the AfCFTA and alliances like Smart Africa offer opportunities for us to collaborate to deliver as required, together and faster, particularly on interoperable systems utilizing economies of scale from resource sharing. 

The DPI Roadmap Playbook: a tool for collective action 

The DPI Roadmap Playbook is designed to meet countries exactly where they are on their digital transformation journey, whether nascent or mature. It offers a step-by-step approach taking lessons from real experiences from the Global South and North. It promotes peer learning, cross-ministerial coordination, and mobilization of public, private, and civil society actors. Crucially, it also highlights how DPI catalyzes private sector innovation, particularly building interoperable payment systems, fintech solutions, open finance infrastructure to lower barriers to entry for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), unlocking economic opportunities in every community across the continent whether in rural-peri urban- urban centers,  

The Playbook was presented to the G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) delegates earlier this quarter, and its reception confirmed the growing need for practical tools that turn ambition into action. As more countries test this Playbook, their experience and feedback will continue to refine future editions. 

What’s Next? Toward an Africa that writes Its own digital narrative 

We urge governments, Regional Economic Communities (REC), and partners to adopt and utilize the Playbook and share their feedback to improve it by reflecting their realities. This is a unique opportunity to shape a pan-African vision grounded in national realities and the ambitions of Agenda 2063 turbocharged by the AfCFTA implementation.  

Africa is rich with talent and vision, and can attain digital independence and assert its leadership as the architect of its digital future. Designing our own DPI means executing on the clear political choice we have made to build a digitalized One African Market (AfCFTA) to building trust and ensure our digital transformation serves people first and leaves no one behind. 

Acknowledgements 

Download the DPI Roadmap Playbook.  

This Playbook is the result of a collaborative effort between: 

With support from the Gates Foundation, this partnership aims to promote inclusive, sustainable, and locally led digital infrastructure for African countries. 

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