Tanzania budgets $4.5M for digital ID pilot targeting minors

Tanzania’s Home Affairs Minister, Innocent Bashungwa, has announced that the government has allocated the sum of 11.34 billion Tanzanian Shillings (approximately US$4.5 million) for a digital ID pilot targeting nearly 300,000 minors in three of the country’s regions.

The minister made the announcement recently in parliament while defending his ministry’s budget for the 2025/2026 fiscal year, which stands at 2.06 trillion TZS (about US$824 million).

Although the exact period for the pilot is not mentioned, Bashungwa said it will be conducted ahead of an envisaged nationwide digital ID rollout during the 2026/2027 financial year, IPP Media reports.

He disclosed that the pilot is part of a plan to put in place a unified digital ID system or the Unique Number ID which will be issued to all citizens below the age of 18 as well as to foreign minors in the country. The pilot will target 235,826 minors in Zanzibar and the Iringa and Mbeya regions.

He also talked about a plan to streamline birth registration in the country by integrating it with the national ID system, which will enable the birth registration for all newborn before they leave hospital. Civil registration and ID systems integration was emphasized at this year’s ID4Africa AGM.

The Unique Number ID, he explained, will among other things, facilitate access to public and private sector services, eliminate the need for multiple sectorial ID cards, an then provide lifelong unique identification throughout a citizen’s lifetime.

Already, Bashungwa announced that the National Identification Authority (NIDA) has built an integrated portal which connects the immigration department, the Zanzibar civil status registration agency and the registration insolvency and trusteeship agency to ensure data exchange and ID issuance in places like airports, hospitals and border posts.

$145 million for smart cities initiative

Another aspect of Tanzania’s digital transformation which Bashungwa talked about in parliament is a smart cities initiative that will entail deploying surveillance cameras across the country’s three largest cities. These are Dar es Salaam, Dodoma and Arusha.

Per the minister, the estimated amount for the surveillance project is $145.2 million, $80 million of which are concessional loans provided by the Abu Dhabi Exports Office. He said the purpose of the project is to ramp up urban security through advanced monitoring and crime deterrence.

A total of 4,100 surveillance cameras are expected to be deployed in the three cities.

Bashungwa also spoke briefly about cybersecurity measures, saying cybercrime saw a 13.5 percent drop in the past year, thanks in part, to enhanced policing, increased citizen awareness and strategic cooperation with the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometric enrollment  |  biometrics  |  children  |  civil registration  |  digital ID  |  national ID  |  National Identification Authority (NIDA)  |  smart cities  |  Tanzania