Ethiopia has advanced its efforts to implement a new national identity scheme with the awarding of a $300,000 contract to Madras Security Printers Private Limited for the production of one million copies by the government.

The National Identity Program (NDIP) reports that since the procedure started in 2022, more than 3.5 million Ethiopians have applied for national IDs, or Fayda. By 2025, the government wants every adult in the 120 million-person population to be registered.

Nowadays, the Kebele ID—which is thought to identify 90–95% of Ethiopians—is the most widely used type of identification in the country. It is mostly used to display a person’s residential location. To confirm a person’s identity, this is used in conjunction with other practical identification documents such international passports and driver’s licenses.

The future Fayda cards will be included into the operational ID systems that are currently in use for a number of uses, such as the resident credential that is frequently used by Ethiopians for everyday identification. These cards will be customized with biometric information that will be used for identity verification throughout the onboarding process for new bank accounts as well as authentication for accessing other public services.

The goal of the NDIP and the National Bank of Ethiopia, which serves as the country’s central bank, is to sign up every bank customer for digital identification during the 2023–2024 fiscal year. The objective of this effort is to accelerate the government’s pursuit of increased financial inclusion.

The Central Bank claims that the use of Fayda as the main means of identity for banking activities will significantly improve security, stability, and transparency in Ethiopia’s financial industry.

Currently, the majority of Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures are conducted manually and on paper. The National ID Program (NIDP) intends to significantly speed up these verification checks.

In a related but unrelated development, the Ministry of Education plans to implement a digital identity system for teachers and students utilizing the Cardano blockchain.

The business that created the Cardano blockchain, Input Output HK, was given the contract to supply this technology to 5 million kids and 750,000 teachers, according to a local media source called Fortune. The purpose of this project is to improve student record management and fight academic fraud.