A few months ago, Tunisia kicked off the digitalization of its public services. The aims were, among others, to end unnecessary bureaucracy and guarantee the quality and efficiency required for the services.   

Tunisia’s mobile ID project will target over 100,000 citizens this year, ICT Minister Nizar Ben Néji indicated last Friday.

During a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the benefits of mobile ID, the official explained that his ministry was working to reach more than 100,000 Tunisians this year and increase the number to the thousands in the years to come.

"The Ministry is working with banks to introduce mobile IDs in the banking sector,” he said pointing at the upcoming introduction of electronic contracts in car sales and purchase procedures.  

The country launched its Mobile ID service on August 3, 2022. The ID was introduced as a universal and unique authentication method to access some public services online. The aim is to gradually replace cumbersome administrative procedures with digitized, simple, and fairly secure procedures.

Earlier this year, the official website dedicated to digital identity in Tunisia announced that as of Monday, January 2, 2023, the number of applications for digital identity not activated had reached 86,000 while the number of digital identities activated was 36,474. For the Minister of ICT, this is a good start. However, the country wants to generalize the use of the mobile ID and introduce other online services, in cooperation with other ministries. Hence the awareness campaign.

Samira Njoya