African nations are in the process of digitizing their services. To fully realize the benefits of these advancements for their citizens, a robust unique identification system is crucial.

The Burkina Faso government, during the ministerial council on Wednesday, approved a bill establishing an electronic unique identifier for all residents.

The system will use biometric and biographical data to create a unique code for every person living in the country, including citizens abroad and foreign residents. However, it will not replace existing identification documents.

“This unique identifier will strengthen the identification system, allow better management of population data, facilitate service delivery, and clean up sectoral identification databases,” said Minister of Digital Transition Aminata Zerbo/Sabane.

This initiative is part of the West Africa Unique Identification for Regional Integration and Inclusion (WURI) program. The project, active in six West African countries (Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Niger, Togo, and Guinea) with financial support from the World Bank, aims to achieve digital identification for at least 85% of the population by 2026.

The implementation of this unique identifier will create an electronic code associated with every person living in Burkina Faso, as well as Burkinabè abroad and foreigners residing temporarily in the country. Besides ensuring the uniqueness of each individual, the unique identifier will be a key tool for inclusive growth. Public services such as social safety nets, healthcare, education, and businesses will be able to rely on this system to identify and authenticate their beneficiaries and clients.

Once adopted by the National Assembly, this law and the developing identification system are expected to contribute to the cleaning up of sectoral identification databases and ensure interoperability between these databases. This will resolve duplication issues and improve administrative efficiency.

Samira Njoya