diff --git a/apps/cic-cache/.gitlab-ci.yml b/apps/cic-cache/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 1234a87c..c88a72d8 100644
--- a/apps/cic-cache/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/apps/cic-cache/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -14,10 +14,10 @@ build-mr-cic-cache:
           - apps/cic-cache/**/*
       when: always
 
-test-mr-cic-eth:
+test-mr-cic-cache:
     stage: test
     extends:
-        - .cic_eth_variables
+        - .cic_cache_variables
     cache:
         key:
             files:
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ test-mr-cic-eth:
           --extra-index-url https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/27624814/packages/pypi/simple
           -r test_requirements.txt 
         - export PYTHONPATH=. && pytest -x --cov=cic_cache --cov-fail-under=90 --cov-report term-missing tests
-    needs: ["build-mr-cic-eth"]
+    needs: ["build-mr-cic-cache"]
     rules:
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
       changes:
diff --git a/apps/cic-ussd/.dockerignore b/apps/cic-ussd/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a58c5dc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/cic-ussd/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+.git
+.cache
+.dot
+**/doc
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/cic-ussd/.gitlab-ci.yml b/apps/cic-ussd/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 463381ae..94e8f06d 100644
--- a/apps/cic-ussd/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/apps/cic-ussd/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 .cic_ussd_variables:
     variables:
         APP_NAME: cic-ussd
-        DOCKERFILE_PATH: $APP_NAME/docker/Dockerfile
-        CONTEXT: apps/
+        DOCKERFILE_PATH: docker/Dockerfile
+        CONTEXT: apps/$APP_NAME
 
 build-mr-cic-ussd:
     extends:
@@ -14,6 +14,31 @@ build-mr-cic-ussd:
           - apps/cic-ussd/**/*
       when: always
 
+test-mr-cic-ussd:
+    stage: test
+    extends:
+        - .cic_ussd_variables
+    cache:
+        key:
+            files:
+                - test_requirements.txt
+        paths:
+        - /root/.cache/pip
+    image: $MR_IMAGE_TAG
+    script:
+        - cd apps/$APP_NAME/
+        - >
+          pip install --extra-index-url https://pip.grassrootseconomics.net:8433
+          --extra-index-url https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/27624814/packages/pypi/simple
+          -r test_requirements.txt 
+        - export PYTHONPATH=. && pytest -x --cov=cic_eth --cov-fail-under=90 --cov-report term-missing tests
+    needs: ["build-mr-cic-ussd"]
+    rules:
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
+      changes:
+          - apps/cic-eth/**/*
+      when: always
+
 build-push-cic-ussd:
     extends:
         - .py_build_push
diff --git a/apps/cic-ussd/docker/Dockerfile b/apps/cic-ussd/docker/Dockerfile
index ecaa14dc..7ff4a715 100644
--- a/apps/cic-ussd/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/apps/cic-ussd/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -1,14 +1,6 @@
-# FROM python:3.8.5-alpine
-FROM python:3.8.6-slim-buster
+# syntax = docker/dockerfile:1.2
+FROM registry.gitlab.com/grassrootseconomics/cic-base-images:python-3.8.6-dev-55da5f4e as dev
 
-# set working directory
-WORKDIR /usr/src
-
-# add args for installing from self-hosted packages
-ARG pip_extra_index_url_flag='--extra-index-url https://pip.grassrootseconomics.net:8433'
-
-RUN apt-get update && \
-	apt install -y gcc gnupg libpq-dev wget make g++ gnupg bash procps git
 
 # create secrets directory
 RUN mkdir -vp pgp/keys
@@ -17,39 +9,23 @@ RUN mkdir -vp pgp/keys
 RUN mkdir -vp cic-ussd
 RUN mkdir -vp data
 
-COPY cic-ussd/setup.cfg \
-     cic-ussd/setup.py \
-     cic-ussd/
+COPY requirements.txt .
 
-COPY cic-ussd/requirements.txt \
-     cic-ussd/test_requirements.txt \
-     cic-ussd/
+RUN --mount=type=cache,mode=0755,target=/root/.cache/pip \
+    pip install --index-url https://pypi.org/simple  \
+	  --extra-index-url $GITLAB_PYTHON_REGISTRY --extra-index-url $EXTRA_INDEX_URL \
+    -r requirements.txt
 
-# install requirements
-RUN cd cic-ussd && \
-    pip install -r requirements.txt $pip_extra_index_url_flag
+COPY . .
+RUN python setup.py install
 
-# copy all necessary files
-COPY cic-ussd/cic_ussd/ cic-ussd/cic_ussd/
-COPY cic-ussd/cic_ussd/db/ussd_menu.json data/
-COPY cic-ussd/scripts/ cic-ussd/scripts/
-COPY cic-ussd/states/ cic-ussd/states/
-COPY cic-ussd/transitions/ cic-ussd/transitions/
-COPY cic-ussd/var/ cic-ussd/var/
-
-COPY cic-ussd/docker/db.sh \
-     cic-ussd/docker/start_cic_user_tasker.sh \
-     cic-ussd/docker/start_cic_user_ussd_server.sh\
-     cic-ussd/docker/start_cic_user_server.sh\
-     /root/
+COPY cic_ussd/db/ussd_menu.json data/
 
+COPY docker/*.sh .
 RUN chmod +x /root/*.sh
-RUN cd cic-ussd && \
-    pip install $pip_extra_index_url_flag .
-
 
 # copy config and migration files to definitive file so they can be referenced in path definitions for running scripts
-COPY cic-ussd/.config/ /usr/local/etc/cic-ussd/
-COPY cic-ussd/cic_ussd/db/migrations/ /usr/local/share/cic-ussd/alembic
+COPY .config/ /usr/local/etc/cic-ussd/
+COPY cic_ussd/db/migrations/ /usr/local/share/cic-ussd/alembic
 
-WORKDIR /root
+ENTRYPOINT []
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index cacb0d2f..b8ed2162 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -464,8 +464,8 @@ services:
 
   cic-user-ussd-server:
     build:
-      context: apps/
-      dockerfile: cic-ussd/docker/Dockerfile
+      context: apps/cic-ussd
+      dockerfile: docker/Dockerfile
     environment:
       DATABASE_USER: grassroots
       DATABASE_HOST: postgres
@@ -493,8 +493,8 @@ services:
 
   cic-user-server:
     build:
-      context: apps
-      dockerfile: cic-ussd/docker/Dockerfile
+      context: apps/cic-ussd
+      dockerfile: docker/Dockerfile
     environment:
       DATABASE_USER: grassroots
       DATABASE_HOST: postgres
@@ -515,8 +515,8 @@ services:
 
   cic-user-tasker:
     build:
-      context: apps
-      dockerfile: cic-ussd/docker/Dockerfile
+      context: apps/cic-ussd/
+      dockerfile: docker/Dockerfile
     environment:
       DATABASE_USER: grassroots
       DATABASE_HOST: postgres