MOSIP registrations pass 76M, Burkina Faso partners for pilot with more in pipeline

More than 76 million people around the world have now been registered into MOSIP-based identity systems and Burkina Faso becomes the latest country to partner with the organization and arrange a pilot. The MOSIP Experience Centre now displays more than 40 commercial solutions from partners as expansion continues to accelerate.

The 76 million MOSIP (Modular Open-Source Identification Platform) registrations are spread across nine locations and have led to 48 million IDs being issued. There are more than five pilots coming online “and more in the pipeline” according to a year-end round up for the organization’s community.

Burkina Faso, after two coups d’état in 2022 and currently under a military junta, signed an MoU with MOSIP in December 2022. The Agence Nationale de Promotion des Technologies de L’Information et de la Communication (ANPTIC) will establish a pilot to complete 1,000 enrolments.

With capacity-building for personnel and guidance from MOSIP and the IIITB, the outcome will provide a blueprint for a potential national-scale scheme. Burkina Faso, a (currently suspended) member of the West African ECOWAS bloc, is part of the World Bank’s WURI (West Africa Unique Identification for Regional Integration and Inclusion) program. This aims to build the foundational ID systems of all ECOWAS states and improve access to services.

“For us at MOSIP, engagements such as these make the platform stronger with every learning gained through field experiences,” comments Prof. S. Rajagopalan on behalf of MOSIP and IIITB.

“We are eager to be able to support Burkina Faso through what will be an invaluable experience and look forward to the journey we are embarking on together.”

The Burkina Faso announcement followed swiftly on from a similar one for Madagascar in November. Nigeria, already receiving substantial World Bank ID4D support for its ID system, is also reported to be interested in the model. As are Uganda and Tunisia.

The Burkina Faso pilot brings the number of countries “in various stages of adoption” to nine, the others being: Philippines, Morocco, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Togo, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Madagascar.

A MOSIP-lite is in development for smaller countries with populations in the tens or hundreds of thousands for which identity scheme start-up costs can be prohibitive. Samoa, with a population of around 206,000, is reported to have expressed an interest.

Experience Centre and ecosystem

The MOSIP Experience Centre based at IIITB in Bangalore continues to attract visitors from countries, development agencies, academics and tech providers. MOSIP now has more than 70 partners and now more than 40 solutions from partners are on display, from enrolment to ID generation and use cases, according to a LinkedIn post.

After close to 50 scheduled visits, most recently from TECH5 and Credence ID which submitted a device, the team hopes to welcome many more visitors in 2023.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  Burkina Faso  |  digital ID  |  digital ID infrastructure  |  identity management  |  MOSIP (Modular Open Source Identity Platform)  |  MOSIP Experience Centre  |  national ID