Ethiopia–A Country where 40% Citizens have No Identification Documents

Millions of Ethiopians are facing exclusion from everyday activities like banking and getting phone service because they lack proper identification documents. Now government of Ethiopia aims to tackle this problem by registering these undocumented citizens with the help of banks across the country.

Yesterday, Yodahe Arayaselasie, the CEO of the National ID Program shared the statistics that over 40% of the population of Ethiopia does not have the necessary identification documents. This lack of documentation is creating a significant barrier that is preventing them from participating in the formal economy.

To address this issue, the Ethiopian government is working together with banks throughout the country. The Ethiopian government collaborated with 32 banks. These banks will be equipped with special digital registration kits that will allow them to register undocumented individuals.

The government and banks are investing heavily in this project. The banks have pooled together around 31 million birr to purchase 6,000 digital registration kits at a total cost of 1 billion birr.

The goal of this initiative is to bridge the gap and provide digital registration for people who currently lack official documentation. This will help ensure they have legal recognition and access to essential services.

Abie Sano, the president of the Commercial Bank, explained that an open international tender was held to select the supplier for the biometric registration equipment. After evaluating five digital ID providers, the contract was awarded to Lamino Engineering PLC.

Lamino Engineering, the selected supplier, will provide the necessary registration materials to enable digital ID enrollments.

This initiative will be rolled out through 11,000 bank branches nationwide in the first phase. The goal is to enroll all 40 million undocumented citizens within five years. The 32 participating banks will acquire 6,000 registration materials for 1 billion birr. Banks will contribute 31 million birr, while the government will cover the remaining cost.

This initiative comes in response to a recent mandate from the National Bank and National Identification Office requiring all banks to implement the National ID program during the fiscal year 2024.

Presently, more than 4.6 million citizens have completed registration for the National Digital ID. The recent collaboration between the Banks Association and Lamino will speed up the process of registration for the digital ID.

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