ECOWAS seeks consultant for regional biometric ID card transition roadmap

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is calling for expressions of interest from consulting firms to develop a roadmap to transition foundational identification (fID) systems to an ECOWAS national biometric identification card (ENBIC) over the course of three months.

The firm would be hired using grant funding from the World Bank to implement the West Africa Unique Identification for Regional Integration and Inclusion (WURI).

The roadmap will support the effective implementation of an ID card system by all 15 member states in the ECOWAS region. It will draw from a systems interoperability strategy that is under development.

The roadmap should include a consultation with member states to convert their systems and institutions engaged in fID to the ENBIC. It should also describe stakeholders’ role in the development, deployment and operation of the regional biometric card, including coordination between institutions.

The plan should comply with member states’ regulatory compliance and the December 1st 2014 decision to establish a certificate for travel between ECOWAS member states. It should also give a roadmap to transition the fID digital infrastructure and equipment, such as smart card readers and data entry devices to support the ENBIC.

Lastly, the roadmap should identify potential risks, resource requirements, and metrics for measuring success of the transition. Consultants can clarify that they will work with other firms but must note whether it will be a joint venture or sub-consultancy.

Those interested can learn more about application requirements here.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometric cards  |  biometric identification  |  ECOWAS  |  ENBIC ID card  |  national ID  |  World Bank  |  WURI