ECA and partners to establish Continent-wide digital identities

Abstract

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Omidyar Network have announced a partnership to establish legal digital identities in Africa. The partnership, will go towards ECA’s support to the African Union Commission Digital Identity Platform for Africa. The support by Omidyar Network will also be instrumental in the establishment of a Centre of Excellence on Digital Identity and Data Privacy and building the capacity of senior officials in this regard. The opportunities are immense. Songwe has often made the case for Digital ID for Africa, stating that technology-enabled business platforms that create value by facilitating exchanges via business to business (B2b) platforms could represent $10 trillion in socio-economic value creation between 2016 to 2025 globally. The announcement takes place amidst growing optimism and a considerable footprint. Digital Identity will facilitate the participation of Africans in the digital economy, which is expected to grow in Africa to over US$ 300 billion by 2025. “A good Digital ID is the spring board of creativity for the African Youth. It would enable the youth to create their own prosperity and that of the societies they live in,” stresses Songwe. She adds that “a successful digital ID agenda is an inclusive and women focused agenda.”