DRC digital ID phased deployment underway following contract do-over

The collaboration between Singaporean technology firm Trident and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on implementing the DRC’s national digital identification system has been hailed by the Singaporean government as an example of successful collaboration between the Asia-Pacific financial center and Africa. Some experts, however, are warning that the Nasdaq-listed company could face controversies due to the DRC’s opaque political environment as well as technical and operational issues caused by its underdeveloped infrastructure.

Earlier this week, Singapore’s Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, Grace Fu, highlighted the DRC Pass digital identity system at the Africa Singapore Business Forum 2025.

“The platform will enhance financial inclusion and improve public service delivery for over 110 million DRC citizens,” Fu said during a keynote address. “It is a good example of how Singapore companies work with African partners to bridge the digital divide and promote financial inclusion.”

In June 2025, Trident Digital Tech signed a public-private partnership agreement with the DRC government, launching the DRC Pass and naming the Singaporean firm as the exclusive provider of electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) services for the country with over 110 million people.

The DRC Pass is based on blockchain identity platform Tridentity and allows Congolese citizens to access government services, register SIM cards by linking their biometrics and verify their identities for digital payments and credit risk assessments.

The phased deployment of DRC Pass is already underway. Trident, however, could run into controversy if checks and balances are not put into place, according to the Centre for African Studies (CAS) in Singapore, established by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Business Federation (SBF).

“The danger is that unless the terms of the contract are made public, this project could end up getting caught in yet another vortex of controversy and corruption,” says the organization.

The DRC regularly scores in the lowest rungs of global indexes on corruption, while the country’s instability often fuels governance crises, according to Transparency International. This has also affected the country’s identity-related projects.

Last year, DRC cancelled a US$697 million contract to set up a biometric national identity system and deliver ID cards held by Afritech, with Idemia as a technology supplier.

The price tag for the ID system and supporting infrastructure ballooned to $1.2 billion, three times higher than the original estimate from the Congolese government. The World Bank declined to finance the project, citing the absence of a competitive tender process. The decision was taken after warnings of funding irregularities from a government watchdog, the Centre for African Studies explains in a blog post.

“Questions were also raised about Afritech’s planned $593 million contribution, with concerns that the financing would be difficult to secure from commercial banks without a sovereign guarantee, potentially putting the Central Bank of Congo’s assets at risk,” the organization writes.

The DRC Pass project is facing other obstacles. The Sub-Saharan country is the 11th largest in the world and its government views infrastructure development as its primary challenge on the path of digitalization.

The state has therefore established a Universal Service Fund (USF) to support infrastructure development in areas where consumers have limited access to telecommunication services. The fund collects contributions from telcos operating in Africa.

Despite challenges, digitalization is a fundamental priority for the country, according to Augustin Kibassa Maliba, the DRC’s Minister of Post, Telecommunications and Digital Affairs.

“This digital identity would serve as the first step towards comprehensive e-government services, with a particular focus on digitalising land and property records initially,” Kibassa Maliba said in an April interview with Govinsider.

The digital identity system is expected not only to speed up the digitalization of the Central African country but also create more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs in digital technology, cybersecurity, administration and services, the Minister adds.

“While the current collaboration centres on digital identity, both parties see potential for future expanded cooperation across various digital transformation initiatives, contingent on the success of the initial stages,” says Kibassa Maliba.

In collaboration with the private sector, the country is working on setting up data centers to store citizen data securely. The first phase of the first data centre was launched earlier in August by OADC Texaf Digital, a joint venture between African data centre company Open Access Data Centres (OADC) and Belgian investment company TEXAF.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometrics  |  Democratic Republic of Congo  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  National Office for Population Identification (ONIP)  |  public-private partnerships  |  Trident