W’Bank raises Nigeria’s NIN target to 180m under ID4D project

• Published On: 24 December 2024 at 22:14

The World Bank has revised Nigeria's target for the Digital Identity for Development project, increasing the number of Nigerians to receive the National Identification Number from 148 million to 180 million.

Despite missing the original deadline of June 2024, the project has made significant progress, justifying its extension and expansion to include more Nigerians.

As of October 2024, the NIMC's Director-General, Engr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, reported that the Commission had issued NINs to 115 million Nigerians and legal residents.

This represents significant progress towards the target, despite remaining below the updated goal of 180 million NIN holders.

Despite progress, the World Bank identified a significant gap in digital identification, with nearly half of Nigerians, particularly women, people with disabilities, and disadvantaged groups, still lacking a National Identification Number.

This exclusion denies them access to government assistance, financial inclusion, and participation in the digital economy, perpetuating inequality and limiting opportunities for vulnerable groups.

The World Bank acknowledged that the ID4D project is addressing this gap by focussing enrolment efforts on the poor and vulnerable populations.

"This project aims to support universal NIN coverage by increasing the target number of NINs issued from 148 million to 180 million. "This will have a transformative impact by allowing Nigerians to use digital identification for prosperity," the Bank stated.

The World Bank revealed that on May 31, 2024, the Nigerian government asked for a three-year extension of the ID4D project.

This extension would provide more time to meet the updated targets, with a particular emphasis on expanding digital identification to underserved and vulnerable populations.

The World Bank announced that the ID4D project's restructuring and extension plan has been agreed upon in two stages.

The first stage, completed in June 2024, extended the project's deadline from June 30, 2024 to December 31, 2024. It also entailed updating the results framework and discontinuing activities that were no longer consistent with government priorities.

The Nigerian government was granted a six-month extension to demonstrate its commitment by designing and launching the procurement of a new national identity management system that is open-source, modular, interoperable, and scaleable.

"The government has successfully achieved this milestone; therefore, a second stage extension for an additional 24 months is proposed to allow for the completion of the remaining critical activities and the successful achievement of the project development objectives (PDO).

"The proposed restructuring would extend the closing date from December 31, 2024 to December 31, 2026," according to the statement.

The total funding for the ID4D project is $430 million, with $115 million from the World Bank's IDA, $100 million from the French Development Agency (AFD), and $215 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The World Bank reported that 53.16% of the funds had been disbursed thus far. Furthermore, Nigeria has made significant progress towards meeting the final disbursement condition, which requires amending the NIMC Act to establish an inclusive and non-discriminatory legal and regulatory framework.

In addition to the legal reforms required for disbursement, the World Bank stated that the ID4D project is assisting with legislative processes aimed at increasing trust in the larger digital economy.

"This includes the creation of two critical laws: a cyber security bill and the Nigeria Digital Economy and e-Governance Bill (NDEB). Both bills seek to strengthen Nigeria's participation in the global digital economy by addressing critical issues such as cyber security, e-signature, and e-commerce.

"In addition, the project is helping to develop a national data sharing framework. These reforms are critical because they will allow Nigerians and businesses to transact online in a safe and secure environment," the bank stated.