Cameroon introduces digital ID system for taxi owners, drivers

A digital identification process targeting taxi owners and drivers in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé is set to begin on July 3 and will run until October 5. The enrollment drive is part of new measures introduced by the city council aimed at identifying taxis plying the city roads.

An order issued recently by the city mayor states that the new registration drive will be compulsory and seeks to contribute to the modernization of the country’s urban transportation system. All taxis and their drivers not digitally registered after the deadline will not be allowed to work.

In addition, the move will also contribute to sanitizing the urban transport sector, guaranteeing the security of passengers who are often victims of harassment in taxis, improving the working conditions of taxi drivers, digitizing the management of the municipal fleet, and creating a reliable database for urban planning purposes.

The mayor indicates that registration can be done on the Taxi-Yaounde.com platform, and taxi drivers are, among other things, required to submit documents including their national ID card, driver’s license, and a facial photo.

Every registered driver will receive a QR code and a unique door identification number to replace existing taxi door registrations.

The Ministries of Transport, and Urban Development and Housing, as well as a sustainable city mobility initiative called Green Mobility Yaoundé (MoVE Yaounde), are among the partners of the identification project, which also has support from the German Development Corporation (GIZ).

Many countries around the continent are increasingly using digital identification in several sectoral uses, including the transport sector. In Somalia, the country’s national digital ID is required for access to certain transport department services such as obtaining driver’s licences and vehicle registration certificates.

The move represents one more digital ID use case in Cameroon as the country pushes ahead with its digital transformation agenda. It seeks to go beyond national-level ID enrollment to creating vertical use cases that can help solve immediate civic problems, and also demonstrates how digital identity can be embedded into daily economic interactions to build trust between strangers.

This comes not long after the Ministry of Secondary Education struck a deal with telecoms firm MTN Cameroon to introduce digital IDs for student profile management across colleges in the country.

Last week, the government, through the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, also launched a technology innovation challenge which seeks to identify young people with innovative digital solutions that can contribute to solving local problems.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  Cameroon  |  digital identity  |  identity verification  |  QR code  |  transportation