Federal Government is teaming up with the World Bank to introduce digital national IDs for all Nigerians, as stated by Shubham Chaudhuri, the World Bank country director for Nigeria.
Gatekeepers News reports that Chaudhuri made this announcement during a dinner event held in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy in Abuja on Friday.
He highlighted the significant potential of harnessing digital technologies, emphasising that such efforts would play a crucial role in driving transformative changes
“Our main mission here in Nigeria is to eliminate poverty, make lives better, create jobs for all Nigerian youth,” Chaudhuri said.
“One of the areas that we think have the greatest potential, is the area of using digital technologies to transform. Now, to do that, it begins with having this digital national ID.
“So, one of the main partnerships we have is working with National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to ensure the rollout of the registration, so that all 220 million Nigerians have a digital national ID, beginning — of course — with all people of working age, and I think the target for that is at least 148 million people by the middle of next year.
“The second is helping Nigeria lead the broadband infrastructure for broadband connectivity because without broadband connectivity, digital technologies will lead to a digital divide.
“So, their support has been for good kinds of policies and regulations that will help invite private investment into this space and then fibre optic cables.”
Chaudhuri highlighted that the most formidable task in implementing these infrastructures nationwide is ensuring proper regulation for the fiber optic cables, which would encourage private investors to invest and see a viable return on their services.
In response, Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, mentioned that the federal government has successfully obtained a $500 million loan for a local funding program.
The Minister said this initiative is designed to enhance innovation and entrepreneurship within Nigeria’s digital sector.
“We’ve got access to about half a billion dollars to start local funding,” he said.
Tijani emphasised that the government’s strategy involves keeping local funding within Nigeria’s borders and ensuring its advantages are reaped by authentic Nigerian enterprises. He further mentioned that the Ministry will work in partnership with the Bank of Industry (BoI) to achieve this goal.
The objective of housing funding within the country, according to Tijani, is to nurture the expansion and advancement of indigenous businesses, thereby playing a significant role in driving the nation’s economic advancement.
“We want to ensure that those businesses that will benefit are true, real Nigerian businesses,” the minister added.
“Part of my responsibilities is working with BOI to ensure that we domicile that funding locally in Nigeria, work with firms who manage and invest in businesses to ensure that those businesses that will benefit are true, real Nigerian businesses.
“What we are going to see is that the funding is available locally and in the coming months, it is going to become larger, and as these funds become larger, we want to leverage that money as well.
“So, the government is not just going to put half a billion and that’s it, it can actually bring more investors to heart as we have more money and more of our innovators can have access to resources.”
