Secondment Diaries: Gofore supports Nigeria in digital public infrastructure (DPI) development
Through the secondment assignment within the Finnish Digital and Green Transition (FDGT) project, Gofore provides Nigeria advisory and technical hands-on expertise for their ambitious plans to further digitise the national public administration services.
Nigeria has a sizeable population with estimated 240 million inhabitants, continuous rapid growth and demography dominated by young generations. In total, the country represents the sixth of all African population. The differences within the country and its 36 states reflect significant regional diversity, with varying local conditions and security dynamics that require careful, context-specific assessment in some areas to mitigate the risks.
On the other hand, Nigeria has some very advanced digital functions added with highly ambitious plans and drive, not only for the future, but rather for the present – the remarkable steps are taken as we speak. The key pillars for digital society services include the national digital identity, which is already use by about 120 million people. The advanced payment systems used through the public administration, private companies and between individuals form the second pillar for the digital society development. Around this pillar, the Nigerian finance sector has generated five unicorns, i.e. companies valued over USD 1 billion . Most of the governmental entities and agencies have their services available digitally but they remain quite siloed. Thus, the third pillar for digital society, the interoperability between the organisations, their information systems and data, is missing. For this challenge Nigerian DPI programme aims to provide the solution.
Nigeria is inspired by Finland and Estonia
Nigeria has repeatedly expressed interest in adopting Finnish and Estonian governance models and technologies, planning to adapt them locally. The intention has been well received in the EU Global Gateway programme, who have already prepared substantial support for upcoming collaboration projects. While the anticipated EU projects are being formulated, Finland promptly answered Nigeria’s request for assistance by leveraging the FDGT programme to deliver much-needed early support. As a result, two Gofore consultants, Harri Mansikkamäki and Raúl Martinez, were selected to support Nigerian Data Exchange Centre (NGDX) in their initial steps to take X-Road services in use.
With the busy schedule over two weeks on-site in Abuja, Gofore team worked with the NGDX and their core technical team to set up the first X-Road instance in the local data centre infrastructure. The local team was tightly involved throughout the system installation, set-up, and configuration. They were provided with an in-depth training and hands-on mentoring on the system so that after the secondment, they were able to take over its operation and test various scenarios of data exchange and anticipated threats within. Additionally, a very practical guideline and roadmap on how to incrementally and iteratively scale and secure the ecosystem was provided.
Along with the first X-Road ecosystem set up, Gofore jointly with NGDX team, met with representatives from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), who are potential members of the planned ecosystem. The data exchange plan enabling smoother collaboration between the agencies and providing more efficient, secure and transparent services for the citizens was presented and discussed. Overall, the response was highly positive and appreciated. Agencies recognised the benefits brought by a wide usage of X-Road ecosystem for themselves and for other stakeholders. Through this close collaboration, the set of tangible primary target use cases were recognised and agreed to be worked onward.
Kasim Sodangi, Senior Policy Advisor to the Honourable Minister in the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy (FMCIDE), states “Our partnership with Gofore through HAUS has given us first-hand exposure to proven technical implementation approaches, while allowing us to contextualise these lessons to Nigeria’s realities.The synergy between the Nigerian and Finnish teams has been remarkable to witness, and it has significantly strengthened our confidence in the programme’s success. This collaboration positions Nigeria to deliver what will be the largest X-Road deployment globally.”
This is only the beginning
Gofore continues to provide Nigeria support on the development of their data exchange ecosystem. Simultaneously, we look forward to the further opportunities to progress the recognised key use cases and gradually expand initiated ecosystem towards properly staged, managed and widely used secure national solution that builds the currently missing pillar for Nigerian digital society.
Nigeria, and African developing markets overall, present a remarkable opportunity to provide assistance in digital services planning and creation. The markets possess multifaceted challenges and risks, but at the same time provide an unimaginable possibility for a positive societal, economical and even geopolitical impact, which advanced European companies and organisations can provide in a collaborative manner.
FDGT is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and implemented by HAUS.
Harri Mansikkamäki is responsible for Gofore’s international business development in the developing markets. With his 25 years of experience in digital business and deep understanding of digital society, X-Road technology and life-event based services, he’s keen to explore, support and speed up the societal advancements around the world.
Raúl Martinez is a senior software engineer and a specialist with 14 years of experience in secure system integration, PKI and API architectures, Linux-based infrastructure, and multi-country X-Road deployments. He is driven by the challenge of building secure, reliable national-scale digital infrastructure, while remaining understandable, transparent, and ultimately beneficial for the people and citizens it serves.