Yodahe Arayaselasie, the CEO of the National ID Program, has revealed a startling statistic: 40 percent of Ethiopia’s population lacks proper documentation. Being undocumented means exclusion from the formal economy, as these individuals lack the necessary identification data to access banking and SIM card services.

In response to this issue, a recent agreement has been brokered to facilitate the registration of these undocumented individuals through digital technology. In collaboration with 32 banks across the country, approximately 31 million birr has been pooled to acquire 6,000 digital registration kits at a total cost of 1 billion birr, aimed at bridging the gap for the undocumented community.

Abie Sano, the president of the Ethiopian Bankers Association (EBA), revealed that an international open tender was conducted for the procurement of the Biometric Registration kit materials. Out of five digital ID suppliers, Lamino Engineering PLC emerged victorious.

Under the agreement, Lamino will provide the registration materials, benefiting 40 million citizens through 11,000 bank branches nationwide in the first phase. This initiative is set to span five years, allowing 32 banks to procure 6,000 registration materials at a cost exceeding 1 billion birr.

The National Bank and the National Identification Office mandated all Ethiopian banks to implement the National ID program in fiscal year 2024, requiring financial institutions to enroll customers in the digital ID system.

Currently, over 4.6 million citizens have registered for the National Digital ID, and the recent agreement between the Banks Association and Lamino is expected to expedite the digital ID registration process significantly.