October 2, 2021

The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has disclosed that the National Identity Number (NIN) penetration in the country currently stands at 29.7 per cent as it targets 65 per cent in coming months in order to unlock the economic potentials of the digital economy.

The target, the Commission noted will be achieved with the deployment of the Android Enrolment solution by NIMC using the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) because of the ability to reach the majority of individuals due to their vast networks/coverage of the landscape.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Umar Danbatta said this at a webinar/conference organised by the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).

Speaking as the Chief Host and delivering a speech on Citizens Identity Management in a Digital Economy: The Role of Telecommunications Service Providers, Danbatta noted that the telecoms industry is unarguably the most critical stakeholder in the development of a credible national database in the country.

“It is said that for any digital identity framework or ecosystem to succeed, it must be available and accessible to as many individuals as possible. There is therefore a global recognition of the increasing importance of Mobile Telephony as a driver/enabler for digital identity programmes especially in emerging countries such as ours”.

“we expect rapid growth of MNO NIN enrolment centres which will translate to exponential growth in NIN enrolments. This bodes well for the actualization of a robust digital identity database and the growth of the digital economy in Nigeria”.

“The national identity database has gradually grown to over 63 million citizens as at August 2021, representing a meagre 29.7% of the Nigerian Population since commencement of the National Identity Number (NIN) enrolment exercise in February 2012 by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC)”.

“It may interest us to note that 37% of NIN enrolments recorded during the 8 years since NIN enrolment commenced was accomplished by leveraging the Telecommunications Industry”. 

He added that vast resources have been deployed by MNOs to facilitate the accelerated growth of the national identity database.

He commended the telecoms operators their collaboration and contributions towards the milestones achieved thus far with regard to NIN enrolment and those that will be achieved going forward.

Danbatta however reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to guide and support the Industry by providing the necessary regulatory frameworks to ensure the growth of the Digital Identity and Digital Economy ecosystem.