IDEMIA Smart Identity has announced a renewal of its collaboration with Nigeria’s National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), to upgrade the country’s biometric identification system, to enable it to accommodate 250 million records.
The project, supported by the World Bank’s ID4D initiative, shows the efforts Nigeria is making to establish a robust and reliable civil database. With each citizen’s identity set to remain unique within the system, the initiative aligns with the United Nations’ (UN) sustainable development goals, specifically targeting universal legal identity by 2030.
On February 28, 2024, IDEMIA Smart Identity and NIMC formalised their commitment to enhancing Nigeria’s biometric infrastructure, paving the way for what promises to be one of the most advanced systems globally. Comparable only to India’s Aadhaar system in sophistication, the upgraded biometric matching capabilities are poised to handle 1 million 1:1 and 1:N identity verification searches daily.
The Senior Vice President of Middle East and Africa at IDEMIA Smart Identity, Olivier Charlanes, explained that “the new powerful system is future-proof and will ensure that all Nigerians have access to a secured, trusted identity, enabling them to exercise their rights and responsibilities as a citizen. Moreover, this contract, in the most populous country in Africa, demonstrates IDEMIA’s capability to deploy its technologies on a very large scale.”
CEO of NIMC and Chairman of the OSIA Advisory Committee, Engr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, echoed this sentiment, saying, “the pure power of the biometric matching we will receive ensures that the solution is future-proof for our growing population.” She added, “taking this next step in the enhancement of our system with IDEMIA Smart Identity was a natural choice for us. We wanted to ensure that we deliver the best-in-class solution to our fellow Nigerians.”
The upgrade was green-lit as Nigeria’s existing biometric records system, initially designed to support 100 million records, approached its capacity limit, housing 90 million records. By expanding the system’s capacity, NIMC aims to accommodate Nigeria’s entire population, ensuring every citizen has access to a secure and trusted identity.
By Derrick Kafui Deti – Digital Economy Magazine
