• India signed cooperation agreements with 23 countries, including six African states, on digital public infrastructure.

• The partnership gives African governments access to 18 Indian digital platforms through India Stack Global.

• A World Economic Forum study warned about cybersecurity and data privacy risks linked to large-scale DPI systems.

The Indian government announced on Friday, February 6, the signing of memoranda of understanding with 23 countries, including six African nations, to cooperate on digital public infrastructure (DPI). The agreements cover collaboration on digital identity, digital payments, data exchange, and public service delivery platforms.

The African countries involved include Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Gambia, and Lesotho. These states can replicate or adopt Indian digital governance platforms through India Stack Global, a portal that showcases India’s DPI solutions and facilitates their deployment in partner countries. The portal provides access to 18 core digital platforms.

These platforms include Aadhaar, a biometric digital identity system; the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a real-time digital payments system; DigiLocker, a digital wallet for authenticated documents; e-Hospital, an online hospital management system; e-Office, a paperless governance platform; eCourts, which digitizes judicial procedures; and DIKSHA, a national digital learning platform.

The remaining solutions cover vaccination management, secure data sharing, digital health, public procurement, online administrative services, telemedicine, non-communicable disease monitoring, nutrition services, training and employment, public finance management, and infrastructure planning.

This initiative emerges as African countries increasingly view digital transformation as a driver of socio-economic development. Governments see DPI as a structural tool to improve public sector efficiency, strengthen financial inclusion, and expand access to essential services. In this field, India positions itself as a global reference, as its platforms serve about 1.3 billion people and attract growing international interest. UPI already operates in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, Mauritius, and Qatar.

India ranked 97th globally in the United Nations E-Government Development Index (EGDI) 2024, with a score of 0.6678 out of 1. The country ranked above the global average of 0.6382 and well above Africa’s average of 0.4247. In the Online Services sub-index, India recorded a score of 0.8184 out of 1, compared with a global average of 0.5754.

Systemic Risks Not to Be Underestimated

Growing interest in the digital public infrastructure model also raises concerns, particularly around cybersecurity. In a study published in October 2025, the World Economic Forum stated that as governments worldwide, especially in the Global South, seek to replicate similar architectures, the central challenge now concerns secure design rather than basic deployment.

The study highlighted several vulnerabilities observed in India. Public exposure of personal information belonging to officials triggered a large-scale data breach that affected more than 20 million citizens. The system also faced manipulation attempts using forged biometric media, while correlation attacks showed that linking Aadhaar to multiple public services could generate cascading privacy risks.

As cyber threats targeting critical infrastructure expand, the World Economic Forum assessed that securing digital public infrastructure has become essential. Even a potential cyberattack can undermine system integrity and availability while eroding public trust. The main identified risks include synthetic identity fraud, algorithmic bias, artificial intelligence–driven cyber threats, and data sovereignty challenges.

Isaac K. Kassouwi