Nigeria launches Ecowas national biometric ID card

As part of Nigeria’s efforts to enhance digital inclusion and facilitate regional movements and trade, the country has launched the Ecowas National Biometric ID Card (ENBIC).

The regional ID card was rolled out in the country on November 28 after 11 years of work to get it live.

Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in an X post, called the launch “a major milestone in regional security and migration management.”

“ENBIC is the backbone of a modern identity and security system capable of transforming border control and intelligence gathering, with a reliable identification that is essential to national and regional security,” he wrote.

He added that the secure ID card “will revolutionize travel across West Africa while promoting economic growth and renewing the fight against trans-border crimes and irregular migration.”

The rollout of the card comes almost a year after an ENBIC Center was inaugurated in Abuja.

ENBIC is a regional ID instituted by heads of state of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 2014, to strengthen regional trade and development.

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital inclusion  |  ECOWAS  |  ENBIC ID card  |  identity document  |  Nigeria