Guinea: World Bank Identifies Priority Actions for Digital Transformation in Equatorial Guinea

A World Bank team has identified crucial steps for Equatorial Guinea’s government to accelerate its digital transformation efforts. These steps include establishing a digital identity system and other digital public infrastructure (DPI) to foster a robust and vibrant digital economy, aligned with the World Bank’s Digital Economy for Africa (DE4A) initiative. The DE4A initiative aims to support Africa’s digital transformation strategy and ensure a digitally-enabled Africa by 2030.

The “Digital Economy Diagnostic of Equatorial Guinea” report evaluates five foundational pillars essential to the country’s digital economy and proposes strategies for the government and stakeholders to address existing gaps and strengthen the economy. These pillars include digital infrastructure, digital public platforms, digital financial services, digital business, and digital skills.

As Equatorial Guinea transitions away from its reliance on oil, the report highlights the pivotal role digital technology can play in diversifying the economy, reducing poverty, enhancing financial inclusion, and creating job opportunities, as outlined in the country’s 2035 National Development Plan.

Key recommendations from the report include:

1. Addressing Regulatory and Governance Challenges: Overcoming obstacles that hinder the expansion of digital infrastructure is critical.
2. Streamlining the Digital Civil Registry: Implementing a comprehensive digital identity ecosystem to reduce dependency on manual identification processes and minimize inefficiencies and fraud.
3. Developing Digital Payment Infrastructure: Using a whole-of-government approach to advance the nascent digital payment systems.
4. Strengthening Digital Trade: Creating a roadmap to support an inclusive digital entrepreneurship environment.
5. Adopting a National ICT Education Policy: Ensuring that the population is equipped with digital skills.

The report stresses the importance of comprehensive reforms across the five pillars and addressing key cross-cutting issues. It suggests that implementing a digital identity system could significantly reduce reliance on manual documentation, improving efficiency and reducing opportunities for fraud. Strengthening the foundational identification system and operational trust framework for digital authentication is crucial.

Additionally, the report advocates for the implementation of a national interoperability framework, which is currently absent. This framework could enhance the overall efficiency of the public sector by promoting a more integrated and collaborative approach.

Last year, Equatorial Guinea launched a biometric enrollment drive for public servants to ensure that government payroll recipients are legitimate, marking a step toward greater accountability and efficiency in the public sector.