The DPI Cooperation in Motion 50-in-5 Milestone Event, held alongside the 80th United Nations General Assembly, brought together high-level representatives from participating 50-in-5 countries to discuss how cooperation, openness, and shared learning are being placed at the centre of their DPI journeys. Regional spotlights on West Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and East Africa focused on how cross-border collaboration can accelerate progress, strengthen local capacity, reduce costs, and more.

The opening panel on West African cooperation featured Liv Marte Nordhaug, CEO of the Digital Public Goods Alliance, alongside Salima Monorma Bah, Minister of Communications, Technology and Innovation of Sierra Leone; Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy of Nigeria; and Cina Lawson, Minister of Digital Economy and Transformation of Togo. The discussion covered regional cooperation and interoperability, emphasising the importance for countries to act as creators rather than solely consumers of technology, an objective that open-source solutions are uniquely positioned to support.

MOSIP was a common denominator in this panel, with Sierra Leone and Nigeria having completed pilots, and Togo advancing towards a complete national rollout. Minister Lawson noted that, through Togo’s adoption of MOSIP, regional cooperation has been initiated with other MOSIP-adopting countries in West Africa. She emphasised that by aligning on shared standards and a common ID platform, countries can develop interoperable ID systems and enable essential cross-border services, with practical applications in sectors such as education and healthcare across neighbouring borders.

The panel also touched on how open-source platforms give countries the flexibility to adapt solutions to their unique requirements, noting that communities building solutions locally are best positioned to ensure relevance. Minister Bah highlighted that by being more open, countries can strengthen regional collaboration and build on each other’s progress rather than duplicating efforts. 

The speakers concluded that this collaborative approach reflects their vision for Africa, where such exchanges enable countries to advance their own digital journeys while contributing to a collective ecosystem of shared resources and solutions, accelerating digital transformation across the continent.