Côte d’Ivoire has signed a Partnership Agreement with Belgian firm SEMLEX for the development and operation of its National Natural Persons Registry.

Concluded for a twelve months period, the agreement is for the whole solutions required for the Registry. This includes the software, remote platforms, the main production site in Abidjan and a backup site in the Grand-Bassam IT village.

According to the release published by the government to announce the partnership, the project will be implemented within two years. They will give “priority to the solution that will enable the production of national ID cards.

"The system is designed to produce at least 36 million cards during the lifetime of this agreement, including 12 million during the first two years to meet the ID renewal needs starting from June 2019."

In December 2018, the national identification office estimated the cost of this project to be XOF460 billion ($790 million) within a 10 year period.  

Let’s note that the National Natural Persons Registry is an integrated, global and secure system which provides a unique identification number to nationals.

Zeinab Dosso (intern)