{"id":822552,"date":"2025-01-28T06:11:37","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T12:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/28\/nigeria-zambia-step-up-digital-identity-initiatives\/"},"modified":"2025-01-28T06:11:37","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T12:11:37","slug":"nigeria-zambia-step-up-digital-identity-initiatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/28\/nigeria-zambia-step-up-digital-identity-initiatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria, Zambia step up digital identity initiatives"},"content":{"rendered":"
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  7. Nigeria, Zambia step up digital identity initiatives<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    Amid the accelerated growth of the global digital economy,\u00a0digital identity<\/a>\u00a0is becoming ever more critical. In Africa, Nigeria and Zambia are among the countries setting the pace, with both unveiling new initiatives in the past week.<\/p>\n

    In a conference organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) last year, experts\u00a0concluded<\/a>\u00a0that countries that implement digital identity could unlock value equivalent to up to 7% of their gross domestic products (GDPs). And yet, according to the World Bank, of the 850 million people globally who didn\u2019t have an official form of identification in 2021, 540 million were in Africa.<\/p>\n

    But it goes beyond numbers on a graph for Africa.\u00a0Lack of identity<\/a>\u00a0is one of the key impediments to access to basic services such as banking, healthcare, education, employment and justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    By issuing digital identities, African nations seek to make the same leap they did with mobile phone adoption, where they skipped the landline stage of telephone evolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Nigeria targets 180 million digital IDs<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Nigeria has been among the leaders in\u00a0digital IDs<\/a>\u00a0in the continent. The West African nation struck a partnership with the World Bank in 2020, securing $430 million over four years to issue digital IDs. The partnership was to end in June 2024 but was extended to December. In its latest announcement, the World Bank revealed it has now extended the partnership by a further two years to December 31, 2026.<\/p>\n

    In its\u00a0restructuring paper<\/a>, the Washington-based financier revealed that the Nigerian government had issued 74 million national identity numbers (NINs), which serve as a foundational element of the country\u2019s digital identity system. While impressive, it\u2019s way below the 148 million NINs the government targeted five years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Under the restructured partnership, Nigeria is aiming to enroll 180 million people by the end of 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Beyond the infrastructural aid, the World Bank is also pushing for legislative reforms to Nigeria\u2019s identity laws to \u201cbuild trust in the broader digital economy so that Nigerians can utilize their digital identities to securely transact online.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

    The West African country\u2019s digital ID drive recently expanded to target rural areas with\u00a0digital identity cards for farmers<\/a>. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) announced the initiative last week, stating that it would transform how government services are offered.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe adoption of this card allows the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to uniquely identify all farmers, deliver various agricultural services securely, and eliminate risks and fraud. It also provides end-to-end visibility within the agricultural value chain, fostering scalability,\u201d FMAFS\u00a0stated<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    The digital IDs will contain critical data such as a farmer\u2019s biometric data and information about their farmland, from size to the type of crops or livestock reared. It will enable the government to provide financial assistance to the farmers,\u00a0eliminating avenues for fraud<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    For Nigeria, the digital ID is just one facet of a digitalization drive that also includes the\u00a0adoption of emerging technology<\/a>\u00a0such as\u00a0artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain<\/a>. As the first country in Africa with a blockchain roadmap, Nigeria is leading in adoption, with both the\u00a0public<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0private<\/a> sectors announcing new blockchain projects in recent years.<\/p>\n

    Zambia\u2019s digital ID drive<\/strong><\/p>\n

    In Southern Africa, Zambia is at the forefront of digital identity. The country partnered with the World Bank in 2024, receiving a $100 million grant to modernize its digital public infrastructure as the first step in the issuance of digital IDs.<\/p>\n

    The country\u2019s e-government division, SMART Zambia, recently concluded staff training on the Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP) architecture, which is the foundational infrastructure in Zambia\u2019s digital ID revolution.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe platform will enable identity verification using National Registration Card data, improving data accuracy, eliminating duplicate records, and enhancing client profile management,\u201d SMART Zambia\u00a0stated<\/a>, adding that MOSIP will \u201ctransform identity management for public health systems like SmartCarePro, where accurate identification is crucial to delivering quality care.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Zambia\u2019s digital identity drive is the first overhaul of the country\u2019s ID system since the country\u2019s independence in 1965. The government has set out to issue a digital ID to everyone over the age of 16. The country has already made massive strides, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies\u00a0estimating<\/a>\u00a0that as of last year, seven million Zambians (out of a population of 20 million) had obtained a digital ID.<\/p>\n

    CSIS notes that the challenges impeding digital ID uptake in Zambia include \u201climited digital literacy and technical skills, a lack of willingness to adapt to new technologies, and a high turnover rate of ITC specialists out of the public sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Watch: Boosting financial inclusion in Africa with BSV blockchain<\/p>\n