Company

Developing trusted digital solutions for Africa's frontier markets.

A woman-led, pre-revenue, pre-seed, validation-stage full-stack application development and digital solutions startup. SFIDigital is headquartered in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Our Approach

We started with data — not a product idea.

Unlike many technology startups that begin with a product idea, SFIDigital technologies started with data. Our platform ecosystem emerged from a research-driven gap analysis of operational inefficiencies, financial leakage points, low-connectivity barriers, and regulatory constraints across public and private sectors. This evidence-based approach shapes how SFIDigital evaluates defined market failures before committing engineering effort or making commercial claims.

Illustration: a woman leans over a table of printed app wireframes while three people listen, with app and cloud diagrams on screens behind them.

Our Vision

To build trusted, inclusive full-stack applications and digital solutions that expand access, protect consumers, and unlock opportunity across Africa.

Our Mission

To build context-ready and trusted cloud-native full-stack solutions and digital infrastructure that deliver real operational value, enhancing efficiency, accountability, and strengthening institutions through secure, interoperable platforms that support resilient institutions and empowered communities across Africa's frontier markets.

Operating Context

Headquartered in Lilongwe, Malawi

Our solutions are designed for the practical realities of African markets while being engineered to internationally credible technical, security, and operational standards.

Core Values

What we stand for

Illustration: a woman in a patterned blazer stands with arms folded in a bright room while three people work at laptops on wooden tables behind her.

Integrity and Institutional Accountability

We build systems with the same rigour, honesty, and accountability that we expect from the institutions and enterprises that rely on them. Trustworthy technology must be backed by disciplined execution, responsible governance, and measurable accountability.

African Context, Global Standards

Our solutions are designed for the practical realities of African markets while being engineered to internationally credible technical, security, and operational standards. Local relevance and global quality must go hand in hand.

Universal Inclusion by Design

Digital transformation only succeeds when it reaches everyone. We embed financial and digital inclusion into our product thinking and delivery approach so that more people, businesses, and communities can participate meaningfully in the digital economy.

Security and Data Sovereignty

Security is not an added feature — it is a foundational design principle. With roots in computer forensics, cybersecurity, and governance, we prioritise privacy, data protection, system integrity, and responsible stewardship of national, institutional, and corporate information.

Continuous and Resilient Innovation

We build for today's challenges with tomorrow's architecture in mind. Our approach creates solutions that remain adaptive, scalable, and relevant as technologies evolve and as African markets continue to grow and change.

Strategic Partnership Over Transaction

We value long-term relationships over short-term transactions. We seek evidence-based collaboration with institutions, regulators, technology-support programmes, and development organisations.

Women's Leadership, Youth Inclusion & Social Equity

SFIDigital technologies is proudly led by a woman, and we view that leadership identity as central to our mission rather than incidental to it. We are committed to creating pathways for young Africans to participate in the design, development, and deployment of digital platforms, while also seeking opportunities to collaborate with and create space for women-led technology enterprises. We believe the digital transformation of Sub-Saharan Africa will only be sustainable if it is built by, and for, the full diversity of the people it is meant to serve.

Company Snapshot

Where we are today

Stage

Woman-led · Pre-revenue · Pre-seed · Validation-stage

Cloud Support

Onboarding completed with USD 5,000 in active Azure credits. Additional cloud-support pathways are being evaluated in line with SFIDigital's staged growth and technical roadmap.

2026 Priority

onsePay™ · Early build

Commercial Products

onsePay™: In development, Early build · AgriGuard AI: Future roadmap, Concept only · SFIDigital-Gov: Future roadmap, Concept only

Internal Enablers

SFIDigital-CORE: In development under the IMARA Method · SFIDigital-DFIR: In development under the IMARA Method · SFIDigital-DAIE: Future roadmap

Why Now

Institutions across African frontier markets continue to face fragmented systems, limited interoperability, low-connectivity constraints, manual processes, and service-delivery inefficiencies.

Commercial Approach

Focused onsePay™ validation complemented by selected professional services within the approved scope.

How work is governed

SFIDigital IMARA Method

SFIDigital's internally owned engineering and delivery methodology for governing work from problem validation through operation. The public overview describes governance and stage gates; it does not disclose proprietary internal operating controls.

The meaning behind IMARA

Imara is a Swahili word associated with strength, firmness, stability and resilience—something solid, dependable and able to hold under pressure. We chose the name because it reflects the kind of digital systems and partnerships SFIDigital aims to build: context-aware, reliable and designed to endure. From that foundation, IMARA became our working method.

The Swahili word came first and inspired the method name. The working acronym expands as Intelligent · Method · Architect · Research · Advance.

Phase 1

Discover

Validate the problem and strategic case before commitment.

Phase 2

Plan

Define product requirements and user experience.

Phase 3

Architect

Design the system under governed architecture practice.

Phase 4

Build

Deliver code in controlled increments with architectural and supply-chain discipline.

Phase 5

Launch

Test, deploy, and release through controlled gates.

Phase 6

Operate

Monitor, maintain, learn, and improve.

Where IMARA is applied

SFIDigital's approved professional-service scope is grouped below for easier reference.

Discover & Define

Digital transformation diagnostics and requirements discovery

Architect & Integrate

Solution architecture and roadmap design
Systems integration and API strategy

Build & Validate

Prototype, MVP, and pilot design support
Security-by-design advisory for sensitive digital workflows

Operate & Strengthen

Implementation support, training, and staged scale-up planning
Digital forensics, incident response, and security testing through SFIDigital-DFIR Professional Services

The SFIDigital Operating Architecture

Commercial Products are what SFIDigital is developing for the market. The SFIDigital IMARA Method governs product and capability work. A shared internal architecture is being established to enable disciplined delivery.

Governance · Top frame

SFIDigital IMARA Method

Public methodology overview

SFIDigital's internally owned engineering and delivery methodology for governing work from problem validation through operation. It applies across Commercial Products and Platform Enablement & Internal Delivery Infrastructure without implying that every lifecycle phase has already been reached.

Named from the Swahili word imara—strong, stable and built to endure—the method provides SFIDigital's governance framework from discovery through operation.

Learn about the IMARA Method

Intelligent·Method·Architect·Research·Advance

↓ Governs both layers

Commercial Products · Top layer

In development · Early build

onsePay™

FinTech · Merchant payment gateway

A merchant payment gateway built for Malawi, currently in active development.

Future roadmap · Concept only

AgriGuard AI

AgriTech · AI-assisted advisory concept

A planned AI-assisted agricultural advisory concept for smallholders, cooperatives, and development programmes.

Future roadmap · Concept only

SFIDigital-Gov

GovTech · Digital public infrastructure concept

A planned digital governance and public-service modernisation platform concept informed by Malawi's digital public infrastructure direction.

↑ Intended support · ↓ Planned enablement

Internal enablement architecture

A shared internal foundation for disciplined delivery

SFIDigital is establishing a shared Platform Enablement & Internal Delivery Infrastructure architecture—PE&IDI—to support consistent engineering, architecture governance, security validation, interoperability, internal orchestration, data and intelligence readiness, observability, and long-term portfolio cohesion.

Internal capability under staged development—not a standalone customer-facing product.

Internal enablement focus areas under staged development.

Staged development

Engineering & Architecture

Internal enablement area

Engineering consistency and architecture governance.

Staged development

Security & Interoperability

Internal enablement area

Security validation and interoperability readiness.

Staged development

Orchestration, Data & Observability

Internal enablement area

Internal orchestration, data and intelligence readiness, observability, and long-term portfolio cohesion.

2026 focus: Advance onsePay™ through controlled validation toward commercial readiness, while sequencing the remaining portfolio under IMARA.

Leadership

Founding and execution team

SFIDigital technologies is led by a team whose combined strengths span strategic leadership, international development, IT infrastructure, computer forensics, AI and IT governance, software engineering, business development, and African market execution — a core institutional advantage in sectors where regulatory awareness, implementation realism, and stakeholder fluency are equally critical.

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Lusungu Kanchenche

Strategic Leadership · Organisational Transformation · International Development · Cross-Sector Partnerships

Lusungu Kanchenche brings over 30 years of leadership experience spanning strategic management, organisational transformation, and international development across Sub-Saharan Africa. Her background combines leadership experience in the international development sector with sustained engagement in complex, multi-stakeholder environments, giving her deep experience in strategic planning, institutional positioning, partnership development, and execution within frontier markets. She additionally serves on the board of an organisation focused on heritage including its digitisation, contributing to strategic oversight, accountability, and fiduciary stewardship.

Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer

Ashems Songwe

IT Infrastructure · Computer Forensics · AI & IT Governance · Legislative & Public Policy · Cloud Strategy

Ashems Songwe brings over 20 years of technical leadership experience across IT infrastructure design and management, project delivery, computer forensics, digital investigations, cybersecurity architecture, and AI and IT governance. He also served as a Member of Parliament in Malawi from 2019 to 2025, giving him rare first-hand insight into legislative processes, government procurement, and the public policy environments that shape technology adoption and digital transformation.

Software Engineering Lead

Sabali Mthunzi

Backend Systems & APIs · Fintech & Payments Engineering · Scalable Software Architecture · System Reliability

Sabali Mthunzi is a versatile software engineer with strong experience building backend systems and APIs across fintech, insurance, payments, and digital platforms. He specialises in scalable, reliable software architecture and is currently focused on the early build of onsePay™ and architectural contributions across the roadmap.

Business Development, Media & Marketing Lead

Kosam Songwe

Business Development · Media & Content Strategy · Marketing & Brand Growth · African Startup Ecosystems

Kosam Songwe brings cross-functional experience spanning business development, media, marketing, and growth strategy. Over 10 years in media, he developed strong capability in content strategy, audience engagement, and storytelling, later extending his experience through finance and marketing.