The Real Cost of Losing a File: Digitization, Diplomacy, and Development

This piece examines secure digitization and digitalization as forms of diplomatic and development infrastructure rather than purely administrative functions. Drawing on institutional experience digitizing large volumes of sensitive records for the ECOWAS Peace Fund without a security breach, it argues that the loss of institutional records carries costs that extend well beyond administrative inconvenience - eroding institutional memory, weakening donor confidence, straining cross-border diplomatic trust, and deepening dependency on external actors for critical data infrastructure. The paper distinguishes digitization from digitalization, situates both within Africa's elevated cybersecurity threat environment, and outlines practical safeguards institutions can adopt to protect institutional memory. It closes by considering what becomes possible for African diplomacy and development cooperation if secure digitization became standard institutional practice rather than a post-breach response.