Mali to launch worldwide digital platform for diaspora

Mali is implementing a national digital platform to facilitate access to important documents for the Malian diaspora.

The new digital platform will be deployed across Mali’s diplomatic and consular missions worldwide allowing diaspora to access administrative, identity and travel documents, reports Wearetech.africa.

“This initiative represents a significant step forward in modernizing and safeguarding administrative data while simplifying access to essential documents for our compatriots abroad,” said Abdoulaye Diop, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The platform is said to be wholly designed and developed by Malian experts, and apart from streamlining services for Malian nationals residing overseas it is also expected to do the same for foreigners applying for Mali visas. Mali is undergoing a broader digital transformation drive with the government working to digitize all public services within the next few years. The administration has engaged Huawei to install additional fiber optic cables and to build a data center to help facilitate this, ecofin agency reported last September.

Diop added that the launch of the new platform reflects commitment to a “more efficient and responsive administration.” The platform is also compatible with Liptako Visa, a confederal visa system established by the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) which is promoting regional mobility.

Mali along with other West African countries Burkina Faso and Niger launched a common biometric passport in the past month. Grouped under AES, the three countries are currently running junta-led governments (under military rule), with the new passport a consequence of dumping that of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional grouping of 15 West African countries. Following the launch of the new passports, the transitional leader of Mali and Chairman of AES Lt Gen Assimi Goita said the old passports would remain valid until they expire.

While Chinese identity solutions provider Emptech has reportedly lobbied the Malian administration to produce the country’s government-issued documents, a source has previously told Biometric Update that Emptech was not involved in the production of the new passport for the three Sahel states.

The decision by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to quit ECOWAS also has wider implications for a regional ID project supported by the World Bank to facilitate socio-economic growth and integration in West Africa. The West Africa Unique Identification for Regional Integration and Inclusion (WURI) project was designed to support the issuance of foundational IDs in six ECOWAS states, which would’ve included Burkina Faso and Niger.

Article Topics

digital economy  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  Huawei  |  identity document  |  Mali