Biometrics has made great strides in Africa in recent decades, likely spurred by governments and international organizations, driven themselves by concern for efficiency.

The National Identification Agency of Togo (ANID) will launch next month a nationwide biometric identification census. The Agency disclosed the news on August 30, during a press conference.

The project will last seven months, a month in each region, except in the Greater Lomé region, the country’s most populated region, where it will take two months.

Silete Devo, ANID’s Director General, commented on the census: "Faced with this digital transformation, identification, or the allocation of a unique identification number (NIU) to every natural person becomes the necessary condition."

With a budget of $72 million, the project is partly financed by the World Bank, under the West Africa Unique Identification for Regional Integration and Inclusion program (WURI). The latter covers Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Niger, and Ivory Coast.

In Togo, the project aims to proceed to the digital identification of 95% of the population. Each resident will be registered with biometric markers. These will include first and last names, photos, fingerprints, and irises.

Both nationals and residing foreigners (who have been in Togo for more than six months) will get a single 12-digit ID number. Ultimately, the project should streamline government services, improve the identification process, and give citizens a robust digital identity, propelling Togo further into the digital age.