(Ecofin Agency) - French firm Oberthur Technologies (OT), specialized in the designing and provision of embedded security solutions and services, for payment, telecommunication and identification sectors just won a major contract in Burkina Faso.

Indeed, the company was picked by the government of Burkina Faso to operate and manage a system of e-passport issuance and e-archives in the country.

The project will be carried out under a public-private partnership and last five years. Valued at about $12.8 million (FCFA7.14 billion), it was approved on Aug 2, 2017, during a council of ministers.

According to the government, financing for the project which will be in the form of a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract, will be insured by Oberthur Technologies. “Reimbursement will be made on a unit basis for each e-passport issued and costs will be shared between the State and private partner, in line with was has been agreed,” indicates a statement from the council of ministers.

Let it be recalled that on May 31, 2017, Oberthur Technologies and Safran Identity & Security (Morpho) merged into one of the world’s leading providers of identification and digital security technologies.

Temporarily baptized “OT-Morpho”, the definite name of the merger’s product should be revealed next month.