Katsina’s Digital Public Infrastructure Push: Gaps, Fixes, Safeguards

Katsina State is rolling out its Digital Public Infrastructure, a move pointing to growing subnational adoption, writes Omolabake Fasogbon

Nigeria has been rated among nations of the world making significant progress regarding Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) that is becoming almost inevitable to daily life. However, state-level adoption and integration into service delivery is crucial to offer full value.

Defined by the World Bank as foundational, reusable digital platforms and building blocks designed for the public benefit, DPI is built on three anchors: digital identity, digital payment, and data exchange. Together, these elements enable services across both the public and private sectors, similar to how physical roads and railways connect people and goods.

From a rural farmer instantly receiving a government fertilizer subsidy on his mobile wallet, to a mother accessing her child’s verified immunization records at a local clinic without carrying a sheet of paper, DPI is increasingly touching almost every sphere of modern life, driving improvement in education, agriculture, revenue and tax, social protection, and finances, amongst others.

Why DPI Matters for Katsina

Nigeria officially rolled out its DPI Framework in March 2025. Anchored on the pillars of digital identity, payments, and data exchange, it was designed to serve as the backbone the country’s e-Government system, spurring service delivery and creating an environment for innovation.

While significant progress has been made in payment and identity layers, the country still struggles with data exchange and interoperability.

Speaking on the framework at a public review forum for the Draft DPI Life Events Framework and the Draft Technical Standard for the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX), the Director of e-Government and Digital Economy at the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Salisu Kaka, identified the need for states to align with the federal government on DPI pursuits.

At the forum, Kaka emphasised the need for subnational governments to match national standards. “If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he stated.

State-level adoption of DPI is deemed crucial for effective local governance, improved planning, administration, expanded access to public services, and targeted service delivery. This importance was recently demonstrated by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum’s DPI Readiness Report, which built its parameters entirely around states rather than the federal government.

For Nigerians, the closest essential services they need—be it education, health, or banking come from the state, not the federal level. This is why states must adopt DPI, and Nigerian states are rising to the task, though at varying paces. 

A 2025 report shows that only two states of 34: Akwa Ibom and Oyo have achieved high DPI maturity. Twenty are in the middle band, while twelve, including Katsina, were at the bottom at the time the report was compiled. For Katsina, the report indicated it was far behind benchmarks across key indicators, spurring corresponding action, with the state now aiming to become a DPI reference point.

Katsina is one of Nigeria’s most populous states, with more than 10 million residents spread across 34 local government areas. The state has contended with perennial challenges that include insecurity and poverty. As efforts to rewrite this narrative gain momentum, prioritised DPI investment is deemed as crucial.

 Experts submit that when DPI is designed in adherence to its core principles and safeguards including interoperability, inclusion, accessibility, privacy, fairness, and transparency, it is proven to solve state challenges. This was echoed by World Bank President Ajay Banga, who described DPI as one of the strongest accelerators for inclusion and economic opportunity.

Specifically addressing Katsina’s reality, a 2025 analysis by George Ingram and Jacob Taylor of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Sustainable Development submitted that DPI can strengthen state capacity and deliver essential services in fragile contexts, adding that digital identification and real-time payment systems can help build state resilience amid instability.

The Director General of Katsina State Directorate of Information and Communication Technology (KATDICT), Naufal Ahmad admitted the state had been ‘running blind’ prior to present government, emphasizing that DPI is a basic requirement for any government that wants to know who it is governing.

Inside Katsina’s Low DPI Rating

The July 2025 DPI Readiness Report by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum highlights major gaps in Katsina State’s digital readiness. The state was assessed across 22 indicators covering the enabling environment, foundational systems, and public service delivery. Katsina was placed in the low maturity category, ranking among the bottom 12 of the 36 states assessed.

One of the state’s biggest challenges identified in the report is ICT infrastructure. Katsina scored low in this area, indicating inadequate internet connectivity, limited hosting facilities, and insufficient data center capacity to support digital government services. According to the report, states in the low maturity category lack basic hosting capabilities, have limited cloud adoption, and face serious connectivity barriers.

Data management is another weak area. Katsina was found to lack an effective system that allows government agencies to share information with one another. Compliance with Common Data Standards was reported low, alongside the absence of a government-wide data exchange platform. As a result, information remains trapped within separate agencies. For example, a patient’s details in a health facility cannot easily be verified against a social protection database, while agricultural officers may be unable to access records needed to process support for farmers. This could limit coordination and makes service delivery less effective.

In digital payments, its systems were ranked low, with improvements in payment interoperability suggested to enable ministries, agencies, service providers, and citizens to transact seamlessly. The DPI readiness report also faulted the state’s public service delivery digital platforms, describing them as limited. Digital systems in education, agriculture, and electronic registries all recorded low scores. Katsina was among the more than 25 states rated low in electronic registries, an important component of modern public service delivery.

The report also spotted gaps in the state’s compliance with national policies designed to protect citizens. It noted that the state had yet to fully implement tools required under the National Cybersecurity Policy. In addition, it rated Katsina’s consent management capability at low maturity, suggesting that mechanisms for managing citizens’ consent over personal data remain underdeveloped.

The report found that compliance with the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 remains weak across the country, with more than half of the states in the low maturity category and only about 25 to 30 percent having the tools and infrastructure needed for effective enforcement.

From Low Rating to Reforms: Katsina’s Turnaround

Katsina may have emerged among the low-ranked states in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) DPI readiness report, but it is not sitting idly. Even within that assessment, the state pulled off some strides, attaining medium maturity in digital skills, identity systems, and policy framework, having adopted the National Data Strategy 2022 and the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.

One of the state’s major strengths lies in its policies for interoperability, with the report rating its policy alignment viz a viz Nigeria e-Government Interoperability Framework (Ne-GIF) at high maturity, placing it among the few states with advanced readiness for data exchange across government systems.  Land administration was another bright spot, with the state earning a high rating for digitizing land records and transactions.

The state is not carried away by its highs, nor is it ignoring the areas where it scored low.  Kit rather builds on its profile through reforms led by the internal agency, KATDICT, which is tasked with steering the digital transformation agenda of the state.

For instance, the report rated data exchange policy high, but compliance low due to the lack of a government-wide data exchange platform. Today, that narrative is changing. By introducing a digital authority layer, the government now processes and shares inter-agency memos and executive approvals digitally, removing papers.

“We have also distributed over 2,000 ICT devices across MDAs to support digitization processes,” Ahmad said.

Following its groundwork in digital identity, the state is elevating its efforts with the “iKatsina” framework, which is now 90 percent completed. iKatsina is a state-level DPI layer designed to sit atop the federal National Identity Number (NIN) database. It is a digital identity designed specifically for residents to connect them to government services through a single platform.

“The NIN tells us that you are Nigerian. The iKatsina ID tells us you are a resident in Katsina. The government cannot govern effectively if it doesn’t know who it is governing.

“With it, residents can use a single identity to access services ranging from healthcare and scholarships to vehicle registration and loans. The system is also designed to improve financial inclusion. If we digitize the process of getting a scholarship, for example, anyone from Nigeria could apply and get it. We want an ID that tells us you live in Katsina so the government can plan with you.

“Whether a resident is applying for a loan, registering a vehicle, or accessing other services, the same identity will be used. That is the foundation of what we are trying to build as a smart city. For instance, if there is a traffic violation and a vehicle’s plate number is captured, we can trace it back to the owner’s identity. Ultimately, this is about making governance easier and more accessible for residents, while also giving government the data it needs for planning and evidence-based decision-making,” Ahmad told THISDAY.

Previously rated low in ICT infrastructure, the state is already tackling this by laying 27 kilometers of fiber optic cable connecting KATDICT central office to the state secretariat and Government House.

“We have connected the airport, the State House of Assembly, and other critical institutions,” the DG informed.

This infrastructure is supported by strategic investments to clear structural bottlenecks like power and connectivity.

The state has fully waived right-of-way charges to encourage telecommunications firms to expand local fiber networks, while critical government offices, including the state secretariat, select hospitals, and schools, have been transitioned to off-grid solar energy.

Ahmad informed that the state is committed to a holistic digital transformation to drive DPI, which is largely built through internal capacity, not external consultants, a move he said has saved the state approximately N5 billion.

He added, “We presently oversee a whole-of-government digital transformation covering all 118 ministries, departments, and agencies in the state. We have also developed about 12 frameworks to guide both government digitization and the technology ecosystem.”

The state has also deployed the Treasury Single Account (TSA) system to digitise financial workflows from budgetary planning to expenditure control.

“Through this, we have improved efficiency, reduced the cost of governance, and increased the speed of service delivery in Katsina. Beyond that, we are creating jobs and enriching the state’s coffers,” Ahmad revealed.

The Safeguards Katsina Cannot Ignore

For a state that has taken a leap and shown real commitment, achieving sustainable results will depend heavily on building infrastructure that protects the people it is meant to serve.

In September 2024, the United Nations launched the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework, identifying 13 major risks that can arise in digital public infrastructure and offering about 300 recommendations to help governments build safe and inclusive systems. The identified risks center on safety, inclusion, and structural vulnerabilities.

At the launch, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steiner stressed: “Digital public infrastructure is transforming the delivery of services to people all the way to the last mile. As more countries design and implement these digital foundations, we must commit to the universal adoption of these critical safeguards to build safe and inclusive digital public infrastructure that benefits all.”

As Katsina rolls out initiatives such as the iKatsina resident identity and expands its digital services and governance, experts argue that inclusion must remain a top priority.

 NITDA Director-General Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi has consistently argued that technology should be designed around citizens’ needs, ensuring that people are not excluded because of where they live or their level of digital literacy.

Strengthened data protection, improved interoperability, and expanded access to digital services are deemed necessary to move the state from theoretical readiness to real-world impact.

Only then can a farmer in Funtua register for government support without traveling long distances, a trader in Katsina town access credit using a trusted digital identity, a pregnant woman in a rural community receive healthcare services without repeated paperwork, and a student apply for scholarships or school admissions through a single, verified profile.