Safe blood is on the WHO’s essential medicines list and is a critical treatment for severe bleeding during pregnancy and childbirth (estimated 50,000 women in Africa annually), childhood malaria and trauma. The Africa Society for Blood Transfusion (AfSBT) has established a step wise accreditation process for improving the standards of blood services enabling safe, accessible and sustainable blood programmes. As part of this accreditation process blood services as encouraged to implement electronic information systems to enhance the quality and safety of blood transfusion in Africa.