What Citizens Actually Want From Digital Government
What citizens want from digital government is often different from what technology teams and policy makers assume they want. Governments that design digital services around their own organisational structures, legacy systems, and internal workflows—rather than around citizen needs and experiences—produce systems that are technically functional but practically unused.
Understanding what citizens actually want requires asking them—not just surveying them, but co-designing with them, testing with them, and measuring their experience honestly. This post draws on that evidence to outline what African citizens want from their governments’ digital services.
The Core Citizen Wants
Speed and Reliability
The number one complaint about government services—digital or physical—is how long they take. Citizens want fast processing, predictable timelines, and reliable systems that work consistently rather than crashing at peak times. A digital service that crashes during the peak application period is worse than a slow but functioning physical office.
Simplicity
Citizens do not want to understand the government’s internal structure to access services. They want to ask for what they need in plain language and receive it—without needing to know which department handles what, which form applies to which situation, or what administrative code their request falls under. Simplicity in design is one of the hardest achievements in government digital services.
Access in Their Language and on Their Device
In Nigeria, a citizen in Kano should be able to access federal and state services in Hausa on a feature phone. A citizen in Benin City should access services in English or Yoruba on a budget Android device. Language and device accessibility are not extras—they are equity requirements for any government service that claims to serve all citizens.
Trust With Their Personal Data
Citizens want to know that the government is not using their data beyond what is necessary for the service they are accessing. Data protection is a trust issue in digital government. Citizens who do not trust how their data will be used will not adopt digital services—even when they are faster and more convenient than alternatives.
Honest Communication When Things Go Wrong
Perhaps counterintuitively, citizens are remarkably forgiving of government systems that experience problems—if those problems are communicated honestly and promptly, with clear information about what happened and what is being done. They are much less forgiving of silence, denial, and confusion when things go wrong.
What Citizens Do Not Want
Citizens do not want to repeat information they have already given. They do not want to be told “this is not our department” without being directed to the right department. They do not want services that require in-person visits for steps that could be completed digitally. They do not want to download multiple apps for different government services. They do not want technology for its own sake—they want better outcomes.
Key Takeaways
- Citizens want fast, simple, reliable, multilingual, accessible, and trustworthy digital government services.
- Language and device accessibility are equity requirements, not enhancements—many African citizens cannot use services designed only for English-speaking smartphone users.
- Data trust is foundational—citizens who distrust how their data will be used will not adopt digital services.
- Honest communication during failures builds more trust than silence or denial.
- Citizens want better outcomes—they are indifferent to the technology choices that governments make to achieve those outcomes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you find out what citizens actually want from digital government?
Co-design sessions with diverse citizen panels; user testing of prototypes before launch; feedback mechanisms in live services; citizen satisfaction surveys after service interactions; and qualitative research in communities that are currently excluded from digital services.
Do African citizens trust digital government services?
Trust levels vary significantly by country, service type, and citizen demographics. Trust is generally higher for services where citizens have had positive direct experience (mobile payments, SMS alerts) and lower for services that involve sharing personal data with government institutions they have historically distrusted.
About the Author
Suleiman Isah is the Director General of NSITDEA and a practitioner of citizen-centred public service design in Niger State. Read more.
Related: GovTech Pillar Page | Digital Inclusion and Skills
