Malawi to launch digital ID wallet as national ID coverage reaches 99%

Malawi’s National Registration Bureau (NRB) has unveiled plans to roll out a digital ID wallet next week as part of efforts to expand the country’s national digital ID system.

According to an announcement from the ID authority, the Nzika Digital ID Wallet will allow Malawians to store a digital version of their national ID cards, which would carry the same validity as the physical credential when accessing services and conducting transactions.

The wallet is scheduled to be launched on Wednesday, September 16, under the theme “My Digital ID, My Shadow, Never Apart.” The event is planned to coincide with this year’s International Identity Day, championed by legal identity movement ID4Africa and its network of partner countries and institutions.

“Beyond improving service delivery, the Digital ID Wallet is expected to significantly reduce the NRB’s operational burden by minimizing the need for physical ID printing. This will result in substantial savings on printing consumables and a notable reduction in the overall turnaround time for obtaining a national ID,” the NRB announcement stated.

Malawi’s rollout reflects a broader shift among national identity programs from expanding enrollment toward making existing credentials usable through smartphones and digital wallets.

India has taken a similar digital-first approach with the Aadhaar app, which surpassed more than 40 million downloads in July. In Africa, Ethiopia has introduced FaydaPass, while Benin and Djibouti are also developing digital wallet initiatives.

The country’s Minister of Homeland Security, Peter Mukhito, is set to preside over the launch of the initiative which the NRB says is part of the government’s effort to reach its universal legal identity goals, and “a key step in modernizing identity management in Malawi.”

Already, 99 percent of citizens in the country own a national ID, and officials aim to reach the 100 percent mark before the 2030 target set out in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9, which calls for legal identity for all, including birth registration, by that year.

So far, more than 13.5 million people have trusted digital ID in Malawi, which the country considers a key pillar of its digital transformation. Authorities are also looking to build the country’s digital public infrastructure through several methods, including South-South partnerships, as exemplified by a recent study trip to Ghana.

A delegation was in the Ghanaian capital Accra recently for experience-sharing. This included drawing inspiration from the country’s national digital ID (the Ghana Card) which is considered one of the most successful digital ID projects on the continent at the moment.

Article Topics

Africa  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  Malawi  |  National Registration Bureau (NRB)  |  Nzika Digital ID Wallet