DPI transforms healthcare delivery, payroll management in Nigeria’s Niger State

The introduction of a health card linked to the national digital ID is helping to streamline the management of patient information in the Nigerian State of Niger.

The system is part of an ongoing process by the State government to put in place digital public infrastructure (DPI) needed to digitize healthcare and facilitate access to many other services not only in the health sector, but across several other domains. Steps to sanitize the state’s payroll using DPI have also yielded significant fruits.

A report by The Nation paints the picture of a situation where the analogue way of managing patients and their health information in the state has led not only to instances of lost patient records, but also cases of delayed care with often deadly consequences, and even corruption.

The outlet notes that over the years, many health facilities in the State have struggled with the challenges of a paper-based system which have often proven costly not only for the health facilities, but also patients who often do not get the kind of care or level of privacy they deserve.

With the health digitization project increasingly gaining foothold, the State Commissioner for Communications, Technology and Digital Economy, Suleiman Isah, is quoted as saying that “gone are the days of lost [medical] files.”

One Hadiza Abdullahi narrates the experience of how she was made to go through difficulties in re-establishing a consultation file after personnel at a health facility could not find the record of her medical history. She had to go through a process that entailed spending extra time and money before she could see a medic.

Abdullahi’s case reflects the story of many other persons in the State, and maybe across the entire country, where a system of fragmented health records, disparate data repositories and other challenges are putting a spoke in the wheels of effective healthcare delivery and trusted patient management in public and private health institutions.

Isah explains that the government has already digitized a number of public hospitals in the state, by introducing the digital ID-linked unified health card which can enable holders access healthcare services easily.

“What we are doing is that we are scanning all the active files in the hospitals to make the health sector fully digital. We are introducing a unified hospital card. With that one hospital card, you can go to any of the 23 secondary health facilities in the state to access health services,” The Nation quotes Isah as saying.

Beyond bridging the gap of medical referrals, the official says the card can also be used as a wallet for digital payments, enabling patients to easily buy their drugs.

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Sanitizing govt payroll

Apart from the healthcare sector, the Niger State government has also been making efforts to sanitize public finances in the area of payroll management.

In another report The Nation demonstrates how biometrics-based digital verification systems for public servants has helped catch ghost workers who have been draining the state coffers for absolutely no work done.

From physical screening committees, to the introduction of the Bank Verification Number (BVN), and then a biometric verification system and automated personnel audits, the State has deployed these efforts over the years to ensure that thousands of fraudulent workers and pension earners are purged out of the state payroll.

For instance, about 15,000 ghost workers are reported to have been expunged from the Niger State government payroll between 2019 and 2024, saving the state billions of Naira (millions of $US) in the process.

The report notes that digitizing the payroll management system has led to drastic reduction in paper-based transactions which often breed corruption and allow room for leakages.

Africa making gains in DPI implementation

These examples in Niger and many others are evidence that DPI is playing a critical role in changing Africa’s development story and refocussing the continent’s digital transformation journey, as DPI Africa.com sustains in an analysis.

The outlet holds that with the evolving implementation of DPI across Africa, namely the setting up of digital ID, digital payments and interoperable data sharing platforms, the continent is not left behind in the global push for effective DPI rollout.

And even if there are shortcomings that must be addressed, the analysis suggests that there is the need for all actors to seize the opportunity and build on the gains already being recorded in terms of closing the identity gap, leading the way in digital payments and unpacking the power of collaboration and efficiency in data exchange.

The Global DPI Summit held last year in Egypt proffered seven key steps which can guide Africa’s DPI and digital transformation growth.