IOM digital migration platform helps Côte d’Ivoire modernize border management

The Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) deployed at the Kalamon border crossing between Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso is contributing to safer and more streamlined border processes in the northern part of the country.

This is according to a recent news release by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which deployed the system through an initiative funded by Japan, dubbed “Creating Smarter Borders: Enhancing Regular and Safe Mobility Pathways, Connectivity and Integration in Africa through Digitization.”

A recent IOM mission saw engagements with officials in Cote d’Ivoire, including those from the Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DST) and the National Agency for Information and Systems Security (ANSSI), to assess the system’s usefulness and ensure its sustainability. The IOM serves as the technical partner for the project.

The review concluded that the system has substantially contributed to managing large-scale displacement from Burkina Faso by helping authorities transition from an outdated, paper-based system to an efficient, digital data management approach aimed at improving security and tracking.

With the huge number of border crossings, manual border control systems were usually overwhelmed. Deployed as part of a program to drive digital borders and improve migration management in Africa, MIDAS underscores the push for digitization and data-driven modernization of border management, influenced principally by humanitarian crises and long-term regional integration goals.

The system, developed and supported by the IOM, has become a de facto standard in many African countries, offering a modular and interoperable solution. Countries now prefer deploying the system, which can analyze migration flows, enhance security, and facilitate legal movement by complying with international civil aviation and border security standards such as those from ICAO and INTERPOL.

MIDAS is being deployed in countries like Niger, Kenya, and Uganda as part of a continental strategy aimed at standardizing border controls, a move that also aligns with the African Union’s Protocol on Free Movement, which requires robust identity verification to enable safe visa-free travel.

In Ghana, the system’s introduction hailed as a big relief for immigration officers. One of them, Priscilla Ampadu, is quoted in a case study as explaining that recording traveler data and related processes used to be cumbersome until the system came online. It hasn’t only brought ease; it is also helping them save time for other activities.

With such deployments, these countries are all moving toward a smart border model that enhances security without stifling the legitimate flow of people and goods, flows which are essential to regional integration and the wider digital economy goals.

Biometrics-based systems have been identified as efficient tools for effective border modernization and management.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometrics  |  border management  |  Côte d’Ivoire  |  digital identity  |  International Organization for Migration (IOM)  |  Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS)