By BRIAN NAWA SIYWA – FINANCIAL AND MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT
Zambia’s push for stronger fiscal transparency and efficient public services depends on building robust digital public infrastructure (DPI) systems for identity, payments, data sharing, and integrated financial management.
DPI helps government reduce leakages, improve reporting, and deliver services faster. Countries like Mauritius show how digital systems can cut processing times from a full day to minutes while reducing fraud.
Key Challenges Zambia Must Address
Zambia must address several inherent challenges to fully realize the benefits of digital transformation. These include legacy systems that are costly and outdated, poor data quality across ministries, limited interoperability between existing platforms, and cultural resistance to adopting new digital processes. In addition, stronger leadership and governance are essential to drive change, enforce standards, and ensure that digital initiatives are implemented consistently and effectively across the public sector.
However, despite these challenges, Zambia has seen notable progress with programs such as the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), the Government Service Bus (GSB) and digital identity systems (Integrated National Registration and Identification System). However, the pace must increase.
Why does Digital Public Information matter for Zambia
Zambia’s public sector still relies on fragmented systems and manual processes, but Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) has the potential to transform this by enabling real‑time visibility of government spending, faster and more efficient service delivery, reduced fraud and financial leakage, better coordination across ministries, and more accurate, timely financial reporting. Experiences from countries like Mauritius demonstrate the impact of such reforms, with digital systems reducing service times from a full day to just five minutes while significantly cutting errors and leakages.
The overall impact is a lower cost of doing business, especially within the data‑driven financial sector. This improved efficiency leads to sharper decision‑making and higher‑quality financial products and services for consumers.
How this affects Zambia’s Insurance and Reinsurance industry
Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is equally transformative for Zambia’s insurance sector, offering a foundation that strengthens every stage of the insurance value chain. It enables accurate identity verification for underwriting and claims, reduces fraud by providing access to reliable public data such as vehicle records, mortality information, and business compliance, and supports faster, more secure digital payments for both premiums and claims. DPI also enhances actuarial work and portfolio management by supplying high‑quality national datasets that improve risk modelling and pricing accuracy.
In addition, it empowers regulators with real‑time reporting and stronger oversight capabilities, helping to build a more transparent and compliant market. Complementing this, AI and analytics further elevate both government and insurance operations by detecting fraud patterns, improving forecasting, and supporting more informed, data‑driven decision‑making across the sector.
The Role of Finance Professionals
Zambia’s finance workforce must evolve from bookkeeping (data entry) to data driven decision support. Skills in Excel, Power BI, Python, and data modelling are becoming essential, alongside strong ethical oversight.
The Bottom Line:
Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is essential for a transparent public sector and a modern, competitive insurance industry. By improving data accuracy, identity verification, and real‑time information flows, DPI reduces uncertainty. Insurance is most effective when uncertainty is minimized. Since the core promise of insurance is “peace of mind,” access to reliable and timely information strengthens underwriting, speeds up claims, and builds greater trust across the market.