Nigeria's National Identity Management Commission is launching an evaluation exercise that will aims to develop the production and distribution of electronic identity cards locally.Up until now, the body had contracted eID production to foreign firms like MasterCard, but it is currently considering involving local firms in Nigeria to be part of the production.In January, Nigeria's Bank of Industry has announced plans to spend 1.1 billion naira (US$6 million) on the development of a profitable smart cards manufacturing sector. The BoI says the funds were hoped to improve the industry to reduce dependence on imported smartcards.That month, the NIMC also carried out due diligence on some indigenous companies, and gave approval to six of them, including SecureID, and ePay Plus, to begin the process of expanding their facilities, reported This Day.Also this week, the NIMC revealed that six million citizens have registered to receive the body's multi-service electronic identity cards.Director-general of the NIMC, Chris Onyemena, made the announcement at the National Assembly while presenting the Speaker of the House, Animu Waziri Tambuwal, with his identity card.Onyemena said that there are 404 NIMC enrolment centres across the country, and added that his body has plans for the card beyond just the issuing."We followed a process that was both intended to create awareness between what we have done before and what we are doing now, and that will also make sure that we sustain what we are doing on a long time basis," he said, reported the Nigerian Guardian. "There is a distinction between identity card management, when viewed from a process that enables you to identify the individual and update the records of individual and the use to which you put that infrastructure that was called identity management, " he added.Nigeria's new national e-ID cards accommodate a total of 14 apps which include among other things EMV compliant payment functionality, biometrics with MOC (match on card), secure signature, and an e-ID application, said Austria Card.The card also incorporates 18 security features covering all categories (visible, invisible and forensic features) which make the card immune against tampering and counterfeiting.
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