Smart Africa drives cross-border data interoperability through SADX Technical Mission
Date: 2026-04-27
By: Nana Appiah Acquaye
Smart
Africa has conducted a Smart Africa Data Exchange (SADX) Technical Assessment
Mission in Kigali, bringing together representatives from Rwanda, Benin and
Ghana to advance cross-border digital interoperability.
The
engagement convened identification authorities, immigration agencies and
national ICT institutions from the participating countries, focusing on the
practical implementation of interoperable digital systems rather than
conceptual frameworks.
Technical
discussions centred on key aspects of system integration, including
infrastructure readiness, public key infrastructure trust chains, application
programming interface contracts and operational responsibilities. Stakeholders
examined how verification requests are processed, where digital certificates
are managed and how incident response mechanisms are coordinated across
jurisdictions.
Officials
said the mission reflects a shift toward building a functional, federated and
decentralised data exchange architecture designed to support secure and
sovereign digital interactions between African countries.
The
SADX initiative aims to enable trusted data sharing across borders while
maintaining national control over digital systems, supporting broader efforts
to enhance regional integration and digital transformation.
Participants
noted that the ongoing technical assessments are critical to ensuring the
system is robust, secure and ready for deployment, as countries move toward
operationalising cross-border digital services.
