UNECA identifies 11 priorities for digital ID use in Nigerian state

A blueprint that highlights key areas in which digital identity can deliver high value for the development efforts of Nigeria’s Northern state of Kaduna has been published.

The 31-page report titled “Enhancing the functionality of digital identity systems: identification and optimization of use cases for the Kaduna state government,” was developed by two consultants hired by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

Specifically, the work was done thanks to a collaboration between the Green Innovations and Technologies Section of the Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources Management of UNECA, and the UNECA Digital Center for Excellence on Digital Identity, Trade and Economy.

In the course of the consultancy, 11 state Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with the most potential use cases for digital identity were identified. Meetings were held with heads of the concerned public institutions to identify digital ID opportunities for these use cases, and then a rating system was used to hierarchize them for implementation by the state government.

Per the report, the use cases cut across broad areas including validation of the National Identification Number (NIN) issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) for state residents; digital enrollment; ID verification and authentication for things like health, scholarship and loan schemes; remote verification for programmes like social welfare benefits, compulsory basic education, revenue collection and management, pensions and traffic law enforcement; payment verification and tracking, as well as the integration of medical records with the Kaduna States Residents Identity Management Agency.

In detail, the report explains the benefits and potential impact of each of these use cases for the short, medium and long-term growth and development of the State of Kaduna.

For example, to explain the importance of the NIN validation use case, the report notes: “It is vital to verify a resident’s identity to ensure that a service is being offered to the right person. Identity checks reduce fraud, scams, and waste since cost incurred for a particular service can be digitally linked to the beneficiary.”

Use cases such as remote monitoring and digital verification, the report says, will ensure that “current and future interventions are better targeted, and that public funds are better channelled to the right people, based on verified digital identities, availed through the master database management system and the National Identity Management Commission databases.”

In the report, the consultants also highlight how the identified potential use cases of digital ID in Kaduna can spur the development efforts of the state government and those by Nigeria as a country to meet key targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Digital ID is one of the three components of digital public infrastructure which countries have been leveraging to drive their digital transformation efforts. A global advocacy campaign in this regard was recently launched.

Nigeria intends to meet a target of enrolling 148 million citizens for digital ID by next year.

Article Topics

Africa  |  digital ID  |  government services  |  national ID  |  National Identity Number (NIN)  |  Nigeria  |  SDG 16.9  |  social protection  |  UNECA