Building foundational data infrastructure for African governments — starting in West Africa. Where we operate →
Implementation partner · West Africa

We build the foundational data infrastructure African governments need to act on their own problems.

Donors fund vision. Ministers commission strategies. The systems themselves are rarely built. We are the team that builds them — starting in West Africa, with ambitions across the continent.

By the numbers

The discipline, in four numbers.

5 Stages, run every mission
7 Things we will not build, publicly
80% Local team ratio, every mission
4 African regions on the expansion path
The argument

Why the reimagined African state has to be built, not patched.

01 · Inheritance The reimagined state cannot be patched into existence.

The post-colonial African state was built on inherited models that do not fit the populations or economies they govern. Reform has reached its limit. The next generation has to be rebuilt — with digital tools as the foundation, not the overlay.

02 · Failure pattern The implementation gap is where projects die.

Forty to seventy percent of digital projects in West Africa fail — not because the technology is wrong, but because nobody is doing the human, operational, and political work that makes it function in context. Donors fund. Ministers commission. What is missing is the implementation arm.

03 · Embedding Local mission teams are the only way the work survives.

Software fails when it leaves with the consultants who installed it. Our mission teams stay inside partner institutions long enough that the work becomes how the institution operates — durable enough to survive elections and cabinet changes.

04 · Trust Public red lines are how trust is earned.

The systems we build are powerful and dual-use. We have written down, in advance, what we will not do. We refuse missions that would damage the people the state is meant to serve, and publish an annual transparency report on every mission accepted or declined.

What we build

We build the systems that have to exist before software is useful.

Digital Missions does not sell software. We build the foundational data infrastructure the reimagined state requires — identity systems, data exchange layers, case management platforms, digitization of public records, and the integration plumbing that connects all of it.

Read the full thesis
Capabilities

Two pillars. The foundations that have to exist, and the programs that run on them.

Pillar 01 · Build

Foundational systems

The core data infrastructure the reimagined state runs on. Sovereign by design. Portable by default. Built once, used by every ministry.

01 / Identity

National identity systems

The foundation that connects citizens to services and proves who is entitled to what.

Mission
24–36 months
Partner
National ID authority
Funder
World Bank · UN · EU
02 / Interop

Data exchange layers

The plumbing that lets ministries share information without rebuilding the same data three times.

Mission
18–30 months
Partner
Digital ministry / e-Gov agency
Funder
World Bank · FCDO · EU
03 / Justice

Case management for security and justice

The systems that turn paper-based investigations and casework into operational intelligence.

Mission
18–36 months
Partner
Justice / Interior ministry
Funder
UNDP · World Bank · GIZ
04 / Records

Digitization of public records

The unglamorous work of turning archives into accessible, searchable, sovereign data.

Mission
12–24 months
Partner
National archives / sector ministry
Funder
AfDB · EU · Foundation
05 / Integration

Integration infrastructure

The connective tissue that lets all of the above work together.

Mission
12–24 months
Partner
Digital ministry / interop authority
Funder
World Bank · ECOWAS / EAC
Recce-led

Every mission begins with a recce.

Discovery before delivery. The recce decides whether the full mission proceeds and how it is designed.

Mission
6–10 weeks
Partner
Whichever ministry sponsors
Output
Recce report
Pillar 02 · Operate

Programs & platforms

The programs that governments and donors fund on top of the foundation. Hosting, security, skills, hubs, capital. Operated as missions, with capability transfer built in.

06 / Cloud

Sovereign cloud & government hosting

The hosting backbone for the digital state. Scalable, in-country compute and storage that ministries can deploy services on.

Mission
18–30 months
Partner
National IT agency (NITA-class)
Funder
World Bank · EU Global Gateway
07 / Cyber

Sectoral CERTs & cybersecurity

Sector-specific Computer Emergency Response Teams for health, education, finance, and interior. Threat monitoring, incident response, and capacity building.

Mission
12–24 months per CERT
Partner
Sector ministry + national CSA
Funder
FCDO · EU · GIZ
08 / Skills

Digital skills programs

Coder training, digital literacy, and public-sector capacity. Designed for nationwide cohorts and inclusive of women, youth, and persons with disabilities.

Mission
12–24 months
Partner
Education / Communications ministry
Funder
Mastercard Fdn · World Bank
09 / Hubs

Innovation hubs & tech labs

Operating mLabs, iHubs, and Community Innovation Centres. Pre-incubation, acceleration, mentorship, and ecosystem coordination across regions.

Mission
12–36 months
Partner
Communications ministry + ecosystem
Funder
World Bank · Mastercard Fdn · AfDB
10 / Capital

Early-stage capital administration

Venture trust funds, grant facilities, and seed capital programs for digital ventures. Fiduciary oversight, due diligence, and reporting against donor frameworks.

Mission
24–60 months
Partner
National venture trust / dev bank
Funder
World Bank · IFC · AfDB
Mission-led

Programs designed with partners, run by mission teams.

Each program is scoped, staffed, and delivered as a mission — with named outcomes, capability transfer, and a closing report.

Cadence
Recce → brief → deploy
Team
Mission lead + engineers
Close
Mission report
Geography

West Africa first. The continent in time.

We start in West Africa, where the need is most concrete and the institutional conditions support foundational work. Each new country starts with a recce, then a base, then the missions that follow. From there, we expand into other regions of the continent as our capability matures.

See the expansion path