Stakeholders review Ethiopia’s proposed digital ID legislative framework

The draft Public Proclamation of Ethiopia’s Digital Identification Program has come under review during the second in a series of planned public consultations intended to discuss different aspects related to the digital ID program which is in its early stages of implementation.

The review was held during a webinar that took place recently in which stakeholders discussed issues around the legislative framework of the project and other policy interventions. The main presentation was done by Yodahe Zemichael, executive director of the Ethiopia National ID Program (NIDP).

The language used throughout the webinar was Amharic, but explaining the key points of the virtual event in an email to Biometric Update, Mina Awol, engagement analyst at the National ID Program Office, said the idea was to give attendees “an insight into what the Ethiopian Digital ID is all about, along with the digital ID program’s Draft Proclamation.”

“Discussions during the webinar explained how the Digital ID Program is working to enable a trusted, secure, and robust digital identity ecosystem in Ethiopia. The main objective of the gathering was to collect inputs from stakeholders so as to further develop the legislation and overall program details,” said Awol.

The program is being built using the framework and open standards established by MOSIP.

She added that the feedback received through “this consultation will be useful in further developing the legal proclamation.”

Awol also recapped the importance of the digital ID project, saying it is one of the pillars on which rests Ethiopia’s digital transformation ambitions through to the year 2025.

“Ethiopia has a Digital Ethiopia 2025 Strategy to transform the country’s economy. One of the anchors for this strategy is to have a trusted identification system. This Ethiopian Digital ID will be the foundation on which all digital services and transactions can occur in a trusted framework. Having a reliable identification system for all residents in Ethiopia will enhance access to financial, social, public, and other services provided,” Awol explained.

Meanwhile, during the webinar, it was disclosed that the digital ID project is now at its use-case phase, and it will transition to the pre-launch pilot by the end of July 2022.

After this webinar, Awol said “…we plan to organize more webinars covering different topics within the Digital ID environment in order to sensitize and better introduce the program to the Ethiopian public.”

Ethiopia’s federal government recently announced a tender for a supplier of mobile biometric kits for the digital ID scheme.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  Ethiopia  |  Ethiopia National ID Program (NIDP)  |  identity management  |  MOSIP (Modular Open Source Identity Platform)  |  national ID