Digital ID in Nigeria: State of the Industry Report
A shift towards digital identities could add an estimated 7% in real GDP to the Nigerian economy by 2030.
This was one of the findings in a recently released report on the digital identity and eKYC sector in Nigeria, titled: “Digital ID in Nigeria: State of the Industry.”
Sponsored by VerifyMe Nigeria, a leading digital identity and eKYC technology company in Nigeria in partnership with global consulting firm, Dalberg Advisors, the 33-page report is the first independent assessment of the country’s digital identity and eKYC segment.
The report stated that the digital economy (information technology sector) contributed about 18% GDP in the second quarter of 2021. This is on the heels of a government drive to promote a digital transformation agenda aimed at facilitating social and financial inclusion, economic development and transaction transparency in Africa’s largest economy.
According to the report, Nigeria’s aspiration to deepen its quest for digital economy will only be possible through investments in enabling infrastructures like the digital identity space to further unlock the full potentials of the digital economy by advancing greater access to and safe participation within the economy.
Contributors to the report include: Aliyu Abubakar Aziz, Director General, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), digital identity companies in Nigeria and ancillary stakeholders within the industry.
According to Esigie Aguele, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at VerifyMe, “As an identity and KYC company that is helping to solve the problem of financial inclusion, VerifyMe sees the digital identity space not just as a business but as a critical aspect of sustainable development and financial inclusion in Nigeria and Africa.”
“We see the partnership Dalberg Advisors, a leading impact advisory group that brings together strategy consulting, design thinking, big analytics and research to address complex social and environmental challenges, as critical. Not only does the Digital ID in Nigeria: State of the Industry report provide a comprehensive snapshot of the Nigerian digital identify ecosystem, but we also believe it will promote standardisation and build capacity and collaboration within the Nigerian industry,” he added.
Digital identity has the potential to drive greater social and financial inclusion around the world, but especially in countries such as Nigeria which are digitizing and innovating rapidly,” said Robin Miller, Partner and Global Digital & Data Practice Lead at Dalberg Advisors. “Our hope for this report is that it results in a greater understanding of the state of the industry in Nigeria today, but also the steps necessary to ensure that digital IDs live up to their promise of driving truly inclusive growth.”
Themes explored include: the potential of digital identity, challenges of uptake in Nigeria and recommendations to advance the digital identity system in Nigeria. The report also contains use cases from the financial services, eCommerce and government sectors.
VerifyMe Nigeria partnered with Dalberg Advisors to publish the independently-researched Digital ID in Nigeria: State of the Industry report.”
Download the report here.
About VerifyMe Nigeria
VerifyMe is a leading identity verification and KYC technology company powering open finance in Africa. The company offers a range of trust-based solutions to help businesses seamlessly onboard customers and scale.
Services include: digital identity verification, address verification, facial recognition and photo matching, liveness detection and Tier 1, 2 and 3 KYC delivered via its Managed Verification Portal (MVP) and Application Programming Interface (API).
VerifyMe is a NIMC-licensed partner for National Identity Number (NIN) enrollment in Nigeria.
About Dalberg
Dalberg is a leading social impact advisory group that brings together strategy consulting, design thinking, big data analytics, and research to address complex social and environmental challenges. It works collaboratively with communities, institutions, governments, and corporations to develop solutions that create impact at scale. The Dalberg Group is comprised of six businesses: Dalberg Advisors, Dalberg Data Insights, Dalberg Design, Dalberg Implement, Dalberg Media, and Dalberg Research, and a not-for-profit, Dalberg Catalyst. For more information, visit www.dalberg.com.”
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