Sri Lanka just unveiled its 2026 budget with a massive $98 million earmarked specifically for digitizing basically everything government-related. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is betting big on transforming the whole public sector through digital systems.
The money’s going toward three main projects: a Unique Digital Identity system that’s getting the biggest chunk, plus e-Grama Niladhari for local administration and a Digital Economy program. They’re also digitizing payment systems to cut down on fraud and make government finances more transparent.
Sri Lanka’s been moving in this direction for a while. Earlier this year they dropped $10 million on blockchain and AI for key economic sectors. Back in 2021, they even formed a committee to study digital currencies and a potential central bank digital coin.
This whole region is basically racing to digitize everything. Vietnam’s rolling out initiatives, and Malaysia wants government processes completely digital by 2030, though they’re struggling to find enough skilled workers to make it happen.
Meanwhile, Togo’s doing something similar with their Ministry of Energy and Mines going fully digital. They’re targeting 31 services across five agencies with digital tools to replace manual procedures and make things accessible online for regular citizens.
Togo’s goal is to digitize 70% of government processes by the end of 2025, then go full digital by 2030. Ghana’s already seeing $280 billion in digital payment volume. The whole West Africa region is catching up fast on digitization after a slow start.
Conclusion
Sri Lanka’s push mirrors a global race toward fully digital governments, boosting transparency, efficiency, and accessibility as countries across Asia and Africa accelerate nationwide digitization.
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