NIMC advocates e-identification system to enhance digital economy

The Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission, Aliyu Abubakar , has said in order to advance digital infrastructure and promote financial inclusion, a robust and secure e-identity system is important.

He spoke at an event tagged, “CIO Club Africa Summit: Digital Economy and Nexus Between E-Identity, Connectivity and Financial Inclusion”, which was held in Lagos.

The DG, who was represented by Assistant General Manager,  Database, NIMC, Femi Fabunmi, said the commission was working to provide the nation with a unique and secure national identity system.

He said, “As we continue to move forward it is very clear that the nexus between E-identity, or digital identity, connectivity and financial inclusion will be crucial to driving sustainable development in the digital age.

“Part of this nexus is the need for a reliable and secure e-identity system that will serve as the foundation for digital transactions and financial services. Nigeria’s efforts in this area are commendable with the National Identity Management Commission working to provide every Nigerian with a unique national identification number and a digital identity card. This will enable citizens to access a range of services including financial services securely and conveniently.”

According to him, the importance of connectivity in this digital age cannot be overemphasised.

He added, “The digital economy relies on high-speed internet assets and reliable connectivity to function effectively.

“Nigeria has made significant progress in expanding broadband assets with initiatives such as the National Broadband Plan and the licensing of new broadband providers. However, more need to be done to ensure that all Nigerians have access to affordable and reliable connectivity particularly those in rural areas.”

Discussing during a panel session on connectivity, the Chief Technology Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mohammed Rufai, who was represented by MTN Nigeria General Manager of Network Access Planning and Optimisation, Nasiru Hayatu, stated that there was a need for connectivity to draw more Nigerians into the financial inclusion net.

According to him, despite a record of 170 million connections, “when we speak about connectivity and what we can do in technology the first thing to question is whether we have a mature ecosystem to do that. So if you look at the 170 million connections, just about 20 percent of those are smart. And if you take that 20 percent and check the demographic they are mainly in the big cities.”

He highlighted the need to push the “numbers to have that ecosystem move beyond the urban cities, to those places where there are no banks and we really want them to benefit from financial services.”

The Director, Information Technology,  Airtel Nigeria, Oluwaseun Solanke, explained that Nigeria’s focus on e-identity “is very key for us as we start to strengthen e-identity management in Nigeria.

“As my colleague said, smartphone penetration is quite low in Nigeria. So even though 170 million people are connected most of them do not use a smartphone. So they do not benefit from the essence of digital transformation.”

Punch/Hauwa Abu