As another ID4Africa comes to a close, one thing feels increasingly clear: the digital public infrastructure ecosystem is maturing, and no longer a hypothetical.
From 12–15 May 2026, a diverse set of experts in DPI convened in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, for ID4Africa 2026 – the world’s leading global event on digital identity.
This year’s theme “Digital Identity: From Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to Digital Public Ecosystems (DPE)”, allowed focused discussion on Africa’s identity priorities, with key conversations also examining the interaction among human, legal, technological, policy dimensions which form the ecosystem of sustainable digital ID systems.
This year, 38 ecosystem partners showcased MOSIP integrations, compliance, and implementations across the exhibition floor. Seeing that breadth of collaboration was a proud moment – and a reminder that strong ecosystems, built collectively, is the need of the day. This was echoed in key sessions across the event, as country representatives urged the technology community to invest in the future – through private sector engagement, long-term nurturing of a young population, and an inward look towards an Africa that is self-aware, equipped, and passionate about growing their own competence, autonomy and expertise.
The MOSIP team was joined by our close partners at OpenG2P and Inji – key DPGs adding critical technology infrastructure to a growing DPI landscape. The three teams conducted demos, interacted with country delegates, spoke at length with students participating in hackathons, and started conversations with more technology partners to initiate partnership and compliance exercises.
Across demos and conversations, the Inji team in particular saw strong interest in how digital credentials can support safer, more inclusive, and more efficient systems – enabling people to securely hold, share, and verify information across different contexts and services.
As always, ID4Africa’s team made ample room for countries to share their own stories and insights. At several sessions, MOSIP Country Partners from Togo, Uganda, Ethiopia, and others, took the stage to celebrate their milestones, share their learnings, and emphasise the needs of the hour.
What stood out most was the diversity of engagement:
– Country representatives exploring implementation pathways
– Technology partners interested in integrations and compliance
– Existing adopters sharing lessons and progress
– Students from across Africa participating in the ID4Africa hackathon, eager to build, experiment, and contribute to the future of DPI
Those conversations were deeply encouraging and a confirmation that the future of DPI is in good hands.
Not because this work is easy – it isn’t. Building trusted, interoperable systems across institutions and sectors is complex, iterative work, often even slow and messy. But the level of conviction, collaboration, and technical curiosity across the ecosystem continues to grow year after year.
One thing is clear: there is an extraordinary and growing community of builders, implementers, policymakers, and innovators shaping the future of digital infrastructure, each committed to lending the best of expertise to a secure and inclusive digital future in Africa and, in fact, the rest of the world.
We are grateful to be building alongside them, and continue to be motivated – both by all that has already been achieved, and by how much work still lies ahead.
