Whilst many prospering and developing countries have managed to empower their citizens with a form of ID, ID access is still uneven across the African continent, The World Bank says.
The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries with 189 member countries fighting extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Their reports often identify digital ID as an enabler of citizens’ liberties, access to essential services and digital inclusion, and present countries excluded.
850 million people around the globe still do not have official identification, a startling figure that might have encouraged a collaborative effort between the World Bank’s Global Findex and Identification for Development (ID4D) Initiatives to collect global data on access and barriers to ID ownership since 2017.
Access gaps are based on familiar factors – gender, income, residency and rural exclusion.
The data of adults with a government ID between 2021/2022 showed less than 70% was normal across 13 countries.
When the World Bank enquired why 30% of residents on average don’t have an ID, the common answer was they lacked supporting documentation like birth certificates. These documents also issued by governments or local authorities should exist from birth-to-death to prove a person’s identity, nationality and rights in a country. Participants also said the distance to travel to collect an ID or register in-person at a facility was costly and disadvantaged them, especially those in rural areas.
If IDs are out of reach to 30% of populations, citizens are also more likely to suffer from poor digital connectivity and digital inclusion. The report suggested that 57% of adults with no ID in Tanzania found it difficult to get a SIM card, bank account, find a job or even receive healthcare.
Over 30% of adults in Benin, Republic of Congo, The Gambia, Liberia, Mali, and Mozambique are unbanked as a result of having no ID.
