Digital ID project in Nigeria gains $5M from recent currency devaluation

Last year, the devaluation of the Naira resulted in a foreign exchange gain of 8.6 billion Naira (about USD 5.4 million), according to a World Bank audit of Nigeria’s Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) project.

This financial boost is expected to help the digital identity authority fund upgrades to the national ID system. The ID4D project, which primarily deals in US dollars and euros, benefited from the higher exchange rates when converting foreign funds back into Naira. In 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria, through accounts managed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), received $2.538 million and €3.03 million for the project. As the Naira continues to decline against major currencies, the ID4D project will likely gain further, allowing it to advance planned initiatives. These include investments in backup power systems, the establishment of a Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Security Operations Center (SOC), data recovery center upgrades, and new software for a contact center and customer relationship management (CRM).

The ID4D project, funded by the World Bank, the French Development Agency, and the European Investment Bank, aims to issue 148 million digital IDs by June 2024. With over 109 million IDs already issued and additional funds available, the project is progressing well, with a potential to enhance birth registration rates, currently at 30 percent.