Estonia’s international development agency, the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Smart Africa in Brussels to strengthen Africa’s digital transformation infrastructure.
The partnership focuses on digital public infrastructure (DPI), cybersecurity and interoperable platforms, while strengthening institutional capacity to deploy these technologies at scale.
It also aims to support startups, women-led innovation and STEM education for girls.
At the core of the agreement is the development of interoperable and reusable DPI across Africa to improve cross-border integration, reduce vendor lock-in, and strengthen digital security and resilience.
Under the agreement, the two organisations will combine Estonia’s experience in digital government services with Smart Africa’s continental programme architecture to support digital infrastructure, innovation ecosystems, digital skills and entrepreneurship across Smart Africa’s 42 member states.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Andrea Kivi, executive director of ESTDEV, said the partnership is focused on building “secure, interoperable, people-centred digital systems” capable of improving government service delivery.
She added that the agreement aims to turn shared goals into practical implementation, particularly through reusable DPI components that can be adopted across multiple countries instead of being redeveloped for each programme.
Lacina Koné, CEO of Smart Africa, described the MoU as a step towards building Africa’s digital future on “trust, innovation and digital sovereignty”.
He said the partnership would strengthen the ability of African institutions and ecosystems to participate in the global digital economy while retaining control of critical digital systems.
ESTDEV and Smart Africa will also collaborate on capacity-building initiatives for public sector leaders, ICT professionals, entrepreneurs and young people through knowledge-sharing programmes between Estonian and African institutions.
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