Building Digital Trust in East Africa: The Role of National ID and ICT Policy in Somalia’s Digital Transformation

<ns5:p>Trusted digital identities sit at the heart of any modern, inclusive financial system. This paper investigates Somalia’s transition from a fragmented digital landscape to a secure, integrated ecosystem through the lens of a “Three Pillars” framework: Robust Digital Identity, Comprehensive ICT Policy, and Proactive Cybersecurity Safeguards. Utilizing a qualitative multi-method approach, the study triangulates fifteen semi-structured interviews with regulators, financial experts, and civil society against a rigorous analysis of foundational policies, including the Data Protection Act (2023) and the Cybersecurity Law (2026). Results indicate that Somalia’s digital identity ecosystem—comprising e-Aqoonsi, HUBIYE, and the Certificate Delivery System (CDS)—serves as a technical anchor for financial inclusion, significantly bolstered by a July 2025 Central Bank mandate requiring National IDs for all banking transactions. These tools are supported by legal scaffolding under the Data Protection Authority and proactive security guardrails provided by the Somalia Computer Incident Response Team (SOMCIRT). However, comparative analysis reveals that while Somalia has achieved technical parity with East African Community (EAC) peers in biometric capabilities, it remains an outlier due to its reliance on foreign data hosting, which poses risks to national data sovereignty. To realize Somalia’s Centennial Vision 2060, the study concludes that the nation must bridge implementation gaps in rural digital literacy and technical capacity while transitioning toward local data infrastructure. The paper proposes a strategic roadmap for regional harmonization and enhanced institutional coordination to sustain public trust in the emerging digital economy.</ns5:p>