Digital Identification as an Element of Digital Public Infrastructure: Towards Localization of Production in Africa – JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE FOR AFRICAN STUDIES

Author:

Aboul Dahab K.M.¹²

Affiliation:

1. Maritime Telecommunications, National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA)
2. Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract:

Although digital identification is already a vital component of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), its structural importance in promoting industrial localization and regional economic integration throughout Africa is yet largely unexplored. With an emphasis on agriculture—one of the most economically significant sectors on the continent—this research investigates how digital identification frameworks spur the formalization and localization of production ecosystems. In terms of methodology, the study employs a conceptual and policy analysis, combining national digital identity initiatives, regional development strategies used in several African governments, and current literature.

This study’s main claim is that digital identity systems serve as fundamental enabling infrastructures. They include informal producers into formal economic networks by lowering transaction costs and market friction through digital marketplaces, targeted governmental development initiatives, and easier access to financial services.
Furthermore, the analysis evaluates how these frameworks address the legal “identity gap” targeted by UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9, contrasting centralized and decentralized identity (DID) architectures and mapping their implications for financial inclusion, digital sovereignty, and industrial development. The findings indicate that while physical infrastructure deficits, interoperability bottlenecks, and cybersecurity risks persist as significant operational barriers, strategically designed digital identity frameworks act as structural levers. They strengthen domestic productive capacity and elevate Africa’s positioning within regional and global value chains (GVCs). Ultimately, this paper concludes that digital identity must not be conceptualized merely as an administrative tool or an e-government mechanism, but rather as a critical catalyst for inclusive economic transformation and industrial sovereignty.

Keywords:

Africa, Digital Identity (ID) Frameworks, Global Value Networks (GVN), Industrial Localization, Self-Reliance, Socioeconomic Development, Digital Sovereignty

References:

1. Шкваря Л.В. Страны Северной Африки: экономическое развитие и готовность к цифровизации. Международная торговля и торговая политика. 2022. Т. 8. № 2. С. 105–117. https://doi.org/10.21686/2410-7395-2022-2-105-117
2. Al-Khouri A.M. E-Government in Arab Countries: A 6-Staged Roadmap to Develop the Public Sector. Journal of Management and Strategy. 2013. Vol. 4. № 1. Pp. 80–107. https://doi.org/10.5430/jms.v4n1p80
3. Alhammadi A., Alhashmi S., Lataifeh M., Rice J. The Influence of National Digital Identities and National Profiling Systems on Accelerating the Processes of Digital Transformation: A Mixed Study Report. Computers. 2024. Vol. 13. № 9. 243. https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13090243
4. Amini M., Javidnejad L. Legal Frameworks for Digital Identity Systems in E-Governance: Privacy, Security, and Inclusion. Legal Studies in Digital Age. 2023. Vol. 2. № 3. Pp. 49–63.
5. Atick J. Digital identity: The essential guide. ID4Africa Identity Forum. 2016. Pp. 1–25.
6. Beduschi A. Digital identity: Contemporary challenges for data protection, privacy and non-discrimination rights. Big Data and Society. 2019. Vol. 6. № 2. Pp. 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951719855091
7. Bouncken R., Barwinski R. Shared digital identity and rich knowledge ties in global 3D printing–A drizzle in the clouds? Global Strategy Journal. 2021. Vol. 11. Pp. 81–108. https://doi.org/10.1002/gsj.1370

8. Chango M. Building a Credential Exchange Infrastructure for Digital Identity: A Sociohistorical Perspective and Policy Guidelines. Frontiers in Blockchain. 2022. Vol. 4. № 629790. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2021.629790
9. Chowdhury N. Digital ID innovation café. International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 2025.
10. De Leon I., Donoso F.J. The Impact of IP Risk in the Development of IP Markets. In: Innovation, Startups and Intellectual Property Management. Cham: Springer. 2017. Pp. 97–110. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54906-4_6
11. Ebers M. Avatars and the Protection of Digital Identities in the Metaverse. MetaverseUA Research Paper № 3. Alicante: Universidad de Alicante, 2024. https://catedrametaverso.ua.es/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/3-Ebers.pdf (accessed: 06.06.2026)
12. Élő G., Szabó T., Kátai L. Application of remote identification (KYC) and strong customer authentication technologies in agriculture: innovative solutions for seasonal workforce management. Hungarian Agricultural Engineering. 2025. Vol. 44. Pp. 12–16. https://doi.org/10.17676/hae.2025.44.12
13. Gadha M.B., Kaboub F., Koddenbrock K., Mahmoud I., Sylla N.S. (Eds.). Economic and Monetary Sovereignty in 21st Century Africa. London: Pluto Press, 2021. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv244ssnb
14. Ganmati A., Afdel K., Koutti L. Deep learning-based multi-factor authentication system with facial recognition and Smart Card Integration for Banking. 2025. Pp. 1–6. 2510.05163.
15. Geteloma V., Ayo C.K., Goddy-Wurlu R.N. A Proposed Unified Digital Id Framework for Access to Electronic Government Services. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 2019. Vol. 1378. № 4. Pp. 2–14. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1378/4/042039
16. Giannopoulou A. Digital identity infrastructures: A critical approach of Self‑Sovereign Identity. Digital Society. 2023. Vol. 2. № 18. Pp. 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44206-023-00049-z
17. Göknur E.G.E., Youssouf M.M., Darnadji D. Digital divide and Africa in the upcoming metaverse era: A Study on the Examples of Chad and Djibouti. In: Kose D. (Ed.). International Research in Social, Humanities and Administrative Sciences. Ankara: Platanus Publishing, 2023. Pp. 387-404. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo. 7744434
18. Guimón J., Paraskevopoulou E. Factors shaping international knowledge connectivity of idustrial clusters: a comparative study of two Latin American cases. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. 2017. Vol. 29. № 9–10. Pp. 817–846. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2017.1354400
19. Maslov A. (Ed.). E-Governance in Africa 2026: Digitalisation Across Sectors. Moscow: Higher School of Economics, 2025.
20. Masunga F.J., Mapesa H.J., Nyalle M.A. Influence of E-tax System on Tax Revenue Collection in Tanzania Large Taxpayers: A Prior and Posterior Analysis. Journal of Accounting, Finance and Auditing Studies. 2020. Vol. 6. № 4. Pp. 44–63. https://doi.org/10.32602/jafas.2020.027
21. Mejail M. Next-Generation Digital Identity Systems for E-Governance Using Blockchain Technology. Transactions on Internet Security, Cloud Services, and Distributed Applications. 2024. Vol. 1. № 1. Pp. 23–29. https://doi.org/10.17051/TICDA/01.01.04
22. Nwangwu C. Biometric voting technology and the 2015 General elections in Nigeria. 2015. Paper Presented at Two-Day National Conference on “The 2015 General Elections in Nigeria: The Real Issues”. Abuja: The Electoral Institute, 27-28.07.2015. https://www.inecnigeria.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Conference-Paper-by-Chikodiri-Nwangwu-1.pdf (accessed: 06.06.2026)
23. Olaogun B.O., Adesuyi M.O., Akomolafe O., Ndukwe V.U., Sakyi J.K. Regulatory Compliance Adaptation Model for Cross-border Payment Redesign. International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Research and Studies. 2023. Vol. 3. № 1. Pp. 1651–1662. https://doi.org/10.62225/2583049X.2023.3.1.5279
24. Owais S.T., Khanna S., Mani R.S. Building a Multi-Channel e-Service Delivery Platform: Opportunities and Challenges. In: Baguma R., De R., Janowski T., Nielsen M.M. ICEGOV ’17. Proceedings of the Special Collection on eGovernment Innovations in India. New York: Association for Computing Machinery, 2017. Pp. 58-63. https://doi.org/10.1145/3055219.3055233
25. Paliwal N. E-Governance Paradigm with Cloud Environment. Journal of Engineering and Technology. 2020. Vol. 6. № 1. Pp. 14–25.
26. Peng J., Tu J., Niu M., Rahman A.A.A. How does rural digitalization contribute to agricultural economic development? A quasi-experiment with China’s digital village policy. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 2026. Vol. 9. Pp. 1–15. № 1659472. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1659472
27. Rarhoui K. An analysis of African E-Government Development: Trends and Challenges. African Scientific Journal. 2024. Vol. 3. № 22. Pp. 445–460.
28. Ricci L.A., Ahokpossi C., Quayyum S., Turk R., Belianska A., Cangul M., Fuje H., Lee S., Li G., Li X., Mu Y., Mwase N., Ree J.J., Shi H., Kramarenko V. Digital Payment Innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Monetary Fund. Departmental Papers. 2025. № 004. https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400232220.087.A001
29. Rijswijk K., Klerkx L., Bacco M., Bartolini F., Bulten E., Debruyne L., Dessein J., Scotti I., Brunori G. Digital transformation of agriculture and rural areas: A socio-cyber-physical system framework to support responsibilisation. Journal of Rural Studies. 2021. Vol. 85. Pp. 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.05.003
30. Romanenko V.V. Use of ICT for public social services in Russia. In: El Yacoubi S., Bagnoli F., Pacini G. (Eds). Internet Science. INSCI 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 11938. Cham: Springer. Pp. 109–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34770-3_9
31. Sellung R., Lampoltshammer T.J. (2024). M-Government Services: A Multi-country Stakeholder Analysis. In: Homburg V., Lampoltshammer T.J., Solvak M. (Eds.). From Electronic to Mobile Government. Cham: Springer. Pp. 23–43.
32. Tiwari P.R., Agarwal D., Jain P., Dasgupta S., Datta P., Reddy V., Gupta D. (2022). India’s “Aadhaar” Biometric ID: Structure, Security, and Vulnerabilities. In: Eyal I., Garay J. (Eds). Financial Cryptography and Data Security. FC 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol 13411. Cham: Springer, 2022. Pp. 672–693. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18283-9_34
33. Vahdanjoo M., Sørensen C.G., Nørremark M. Digital transformation of the agri-food system. Current Opinion in Food Science. 2025. Vol. 63. № 101287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2025.101287
34. Wang S., Wang W. Application of digital identity in the Metaverse. Security and Safety. 2023. Vol. 2. 2023009. https://doi.org/10.1051/sands/2023009
35. Zhang Y., Ma L., Wei F. Digital Infrastructure and Agricultural Global Value Chains. Agriculture. 2025. Vol. 15. № 15. 1588. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15151588

Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

For citation:

Aboul-Dahab K.M. (2026). Digital Identification as an Element of Digital Public Infrastructure: Towards Localization of Production in Africa. Journal of the Institute for African Studies. Vol. 12. № 2. P. 132–153. https://doi.org/10.31132/2412-5717-2026-75-2-132-153

Full Text Article (ENG )