Digital sequence information on genetic resources (DSI) found its way onto the international agenda of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (Nagoya Protocol) in 2016. Since then, there has been a great deal of discussion on DSI at the international level, but not much progress has been made towards reaching consensus on how to deal with this issue. The Parties to the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol will meet again in 2020 in Kunming, China, at which time further decisions will be made not only on DSI but also on the CBD’s post-2020 global biodiversity framework (Post-2020 Framework). The issue of DSI has been plugged into intersessional activities supporting the development of the Post- 2020 Framework, making it central to how DSI will be dealt with in the future. Many developing countries have announced that they will only agree a Post-2020 Framework if it provides solutions with regard to DSI and benefit-sharing. But what are we actually talking about when we refer to DSI? What is DSI and how is it used? What does this have to do with the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol? And why is this topic so controversial? This Introductory Guide aims to help African policy- makers and stakeholders to understand the discussion around DSI and the positions of various actors.