Ethiopia looking for contractor to supply 20M pre-personalized resident ID cards

Ethiopia’s National Identification Program (NIDP) has launched a call to tender for the delivery of 20 million secure pre-personalized resident identification cards.

Interested companies have until January 9, 2026, to bid for the contract which is part of the Digital ID for Services and Inclusion Project sponsored by the World Bank.

The firm that gets the contract will be expected to deliver, within a period of six months, cards that are tamper-proof, durable, and not easily forged, according to the call for bids.

NIDP says companies willing to bid for the pre-personalized ID card contract must meet certain criteria including the submission of financial statements of the last three years, proof of experience in secure card manufacturing, and the successful completion of similar and complex projects worth $15 million.

Bids must be accompanied by a bid security of 14 million Ethiopian Birr (US$140,000) or any other freely convertible currency, the announcement indicates. A bid document should also contain technical specifications, delivery timelines, and financial proposal details.

Bidding will be conducted in line with the World Bank’s procurement rules and bids must be submitted in physical copies and addressed to NIDP.

The winner shall be selected after an evaluation process based on compliance with technical standards, security features, production capacity, and cost-effectiveness.

Any further information concerning the bidding process can be obtained from the Digital ID for Inclusion and Services Project Management Unit, either electronically or through visits on weekdays.

The delivery of 20 million pre-personalised cards is part of Ethiopia’s ongoing Fayda digital ID project. Enrollment for digital ID is advancing and NIDP has set a target to issue 90 million digital IDs by 2030.

Ethiopia recently launched a new five-year digital transformation strategy dubbed Digital Ethiopia 2030.

Article Topics

Ethiopia National ID Program (NIDP)  |  identity document  |  national ID  |  procurement  |  tender  |  World Bank