New ENBIC Center signals hope for stronger adoption of ECOWAS regional ID card

The recently inaugurated Bola Ahmed Tinubu Technology Innovation Complex (BATTIC) in Nigeria which comprises a facility for the production for the ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card (ENBIC) has been hailed as a move that will enable stronger adoption of the regional ID card for the west African regional bloc.

Since its adoption in 2014 by the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government as a means to fast-track regional integration, the ENBIC biometric ID has not enjoyed the traction it was expected to have.

Over the years, regional leaders have deployed several efforts to push for a full embrace of the ID card, which is supposed to replace the ECOWAS Travel Certificate which is hand-written and imposes a 90-day no-visa stay limit.

With the creation of the ENBIC Center within the BATTIC facility of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), it is expected that the production and distribution of the card will gain steam given that Nigeria has almost three quarters of the ECOWAS population.

According to a commentary by Nigerian outlet Blueprint, the opening of the ENBIC Center is a huge step forward which underpins both Nigeria’s desire to modernize and streamline its identity management infrastructure, and the effort to ensure a more secure and connected immigration system with its ECOWAS regional neighbours.

In September, ECOWAS Immigration chiefs, at a meeting in The Gambia, reiterated the need for member countries to accelerate efforts in the issuance of the ENBIC ID card, urging that further popularizing the use of the ID will dismantle some of the existing barriers hindering the easy movement of persons and goods.

They emphasized that fully implementing the ENBIC ID is essential in facilitating movements, affording hassle-free residence and the right to do business in any country of the region without the risk of compromising the national security of the host country.

There have been many initiatives across the concerned ECOWAS countries to speed up issuance of the ENBIC. One such initiatives was made manifest in the middle of this year in The Gambia, and supported by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), when some women groups were handed ENBIC ID cards to enable them easily get access to certain public services.

Apart from the ENBIC Center, other components of the BATTIC infrastructure include a Data Centre, Command and Control Centre, a Visa Approval Centre, a Solar Farm, and a Passport Personalization Centre.

Nigeria’s Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo described the facility as one that has been “carefully built to combat security challenges such as insurgencies, banditry, cybercrimes, smuggling, and other trans-border related challenges that have usually gone undetected.”

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometric identification  |  border security  |  digital ID  |  ECOWAS  |  ENBIC ID card  |  identity document  |  national ID  |  Nigeria