ID4Africa 2026: Moderating the Open-Source Local Ownership Symposium

🌍 In 8 days, I’ll be moderating one of the most structural conversations of #ID4Africa2026.

The Open-Source Local Ownership Symposium — a full day, 6 sessions, 12 leaders shaping the future of digital public infrastructure across Africa.

📍 Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire — 15 May, Day 4

Why this moment matters

Open source identity has delivered. MOSIP in Togo, Ethiopia, Uganda. OpenCRVS in Uganda, Somalia, Madagascar. DHIS2 in 80+ countries. Millions of lives reached.

But a question is now unavoidable: deployment is not ownership.

What does it take for African governments to truly own the platforms they run? Not just operate them — but extend them, secure them, and shape their roadmaps?

This symposium will go deep on 4 lessons

🔹 Country journeys, told without filter

What worked, what didn’t, and where the ownership gap really lives. With Cdt Silété DEVO 🇹🇬, Rahel ABRAHAM YITBAREK 🇪🇹, Rosemary KISEMBO 🇺🇬, Abdikani WEHLIE 🇸🇴, Holy Volana RAKOTONIRINA 🇲🇬.

🔹 The DHIS2 lesson

Dr. Pamod AMARAKOON shares how HISP didn’t just deploy software. It built a global community of locally-owned institutions. A different sustainability model. A blueprint worth examining.

🔹 A frank conversation with technical & funding partners

Dr. Kanwaljit SINGH (Gates Foundation), Daria LAVRENTIEVA (World Bank), Ramesh NARAYANAN (MOSIP), Edward DUFFUS (OpenCRVS), Pamod AMARAKOON (DHIS2). What can be enforced — in funding rules, in platform roadmaps — to accelerate local ownership?

🔹 The African call to action

Cdt DEVO 🇹🇬, Henock ALI 🇪🇹, Mouhamed Tidiane SECK 🇸🇳. What governments need from partners to move from bilateral pilots to continent-wide interoperability — without compromising sovereignty.

The future-proof shift?

Stop asking “is the system live?” and start asking “who owns it in 10 years?”

Open source gives Africa a sovereignty option that proprietary platforms structurally cannot. But that option only materializes when local capacities, sustainability models, and partner accountability are designed in from day one.

That’s the conversation we’re having in Abidjan.

🎯 If you work in #DPI, #DigitalIdentity, #CivilRegistration, or development financing — this is the room.

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