Madagascar selects IN Groupe for €8.5M digital ID contract

Madagascar has selected IN Groupe for a project to modernize the country’s civil registry and create an integrated digital ID system for public service delivery. The contract has an estimated value of 8.5 million euros (approximately US$9.6 million).

The Prodigy project was launched in 2019 and is supported by $143 million from the World Bank. It aims to provide a biometrics-backed legal identity to all Malagasy citizens, along with a digital ID that can be used in spite of relatively low digital literacy and mobile phone market penetration rates. Access to digital technology and the government’s digital maturity appear to be improving in Madagascar, however, paving the way towards online public service delivery.

Madagascar’s government was considering suppliers for two Prodigy contracts last September, Africa Intelligence reports. One was a $15 million contract to supply biometric registration equipment, with Augentic, Thales and Laxton all reportedly bidding.

The other was a $9 million contract for a comprehensive database management system, which based on currency fluctuations appears to be the tender currently being considered. Bidders for that contract include Augentic, Thales and IN Groupe, Atos and Idemia, and French ID document-maker SELP.  Several local partners were also identified.

ID30 CEO and World Bank consultant Jaume Dubois told Biometric Update that IN Groupe won the contract, and IN Groupe CEO Agnès Diallo says in a LinkedIn post that she is “Proud to be actively contributing to digital development around the world and to be promoting our European expertise, respectful of data privacy and national sovereignty.“

Africa Business+ reports that Laxton has won the contract for the biometric registration kits, though it also reported that the field for the identity management system had been narrowed down to only Idemia and Thales.

This post was updated at 11:41am Eastern on Sunday, May 18, 2025 to clarify the companies that were awarded the two contracts.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometrics  |  civil registration  |  digital ID  |  IN Groupe  |  Laxton  |  legal identity  |  Madagascar  |  national ID  |  Prodigy (Madagascar)