Digital Public Infrastructure

As a next step a DPI readiness assessment framework was developed focusing on the maturity of payment systems, digital identity, data exchange, government skills and resources, and political will. This framework was used to assess the DPI readiness of eight African countries including a comparative analysis across the countries. Each market was found to be unique in terms of their challenges and level of maturity across the key DPI building blocks. Early DPI adaptors like India, Singapore and Brazil each had unique challenges they sought to address. The formula which led to success in India may not be as effective else where. In many African markets the problem statement is not clear and first needs to be defined.​

Finally, Deloitte provided the client with opportunities and risks related to DPI as well as key discussion points when engaging with policy makers and regulators regarding DPI deployments and future plans. Deloitte India also published a DPI playbook for nations during 2025. ​

This playbook is a comprehensive resource designed to help countries understand, implement, and harness the potential of DPIs to accelerate digital transformation while fostering inclusive and sustainable economic development.​

By delving into the intricacies of DPIs, this playbook highlights the role that such infrastructures play in enabling interoperability, scalability, and growth across sectors.​

DPI creates various opportunities including supporting government with implementation, lower barriers to enter financial services, access to instant, low-cost payment rails that fintechs and banks can develop on, richer data for personalised services, embedded finance across multiple industries, unlocking digital identity services across sectors and broader ecosystem plays. ​

But with opportunities also come risks like increased cybersecurity threats, as more participants are integrated into the DPI platforms. DPI often creates a single point of failure (e.g. central payment switches) where various services could stop simultaneously if it goes down. Some regulations aiming to promote DPI could be counter productive like mandatory participation and end customer pricing.​

One of the key challenges African countries experience with the deployment of DPI is a well-established identity system.​

Having an identity system that functions well and is widely adopted is the core foundation for successful DPI in a country. The ability to identify and verify citizens easily is critical to get them to open a mobile wallet or bank account and drives the success of multiple use cases like payment authentication, welfare, health, education or grant disbursements. Some other challenges include government not involving the private sector early on with DPI strategies, not following global best practice standards and underestimating the importance of security in a more open environment.​

DPI will have a massive impact on governments and the private sector, and it is important for all parties to have a deep understanding of the subject matter.