The World Bank has said that Nigeria will now get funding for the implementation of its Identity for Development (ID4D) project having enacted a data protection law.
The World Bank in its latest report on the implementation of the ID4D project in Nigeria said signing the country’s data protection bill into law fulfilled the condition for the release of funds from the International Development Association (IDA), European Investment Bank, and French Development Agency.
As a result, the bank said enrollment of National ID under the project will now start this July.
According to the project’s document, IDA is to extend a credit of $115 million to Nigeria for the implementation, while the French Agency for Development is backing it with $100 million.
The European Investment Bank is also co-financing the project with US$215 million.
Improved implementation status
On the back of the data protection law, the World Bank in the implementation status report gave the project an improved rating from ‘moderately unsatisfactory’ to ‘moderately satisfactory’.
Highlighting the improvements that have come to the implementation of the project, the bank said:
- “The data protection law has been enacted and signed into law in June 2023. This law will provide a legal framework for the protection of personal information and establish a data protection commission for the regulation of the processing of personal information.
- “The enactment of the data protection law enables the lifting of the disbursement condition on enrollment for the International Development Association, European Investment Bank, and French Development Agency. Pilot enrollment under the Project is projected to commence in July 2023.
- “The amendment of the NIMC legal and regulatory framework is also proceeding satisfactorily, with the support of a law firm that was contracted under the project.”
According to the bank, the development objective of the project is to increase the number of persons with a national ID number issued by a robust and inclusive foundational ID system that facilitates their access to services.
It added that the objective has not changed since its Board approved it in 2019.
Project targets for Nigeria
Under the ID4D project, Nigeria is expected to have issued the National Identification Number (NIN) to 148 million Nigerians by June 2024.
As of June this year, NIMC disclosed that enrolment for the Number had hit 101 million.
Aside from issuing NIN to 148 million Nigerians by 2024, the Bank listed other targets to include the issuance of NIN to at least 65 million female Nigerians by June 1, 2024, as well as 50 million NIN to children under 16 years of age.
However, while the data released by the NIMC did not indicate the number of children that have been captured, it revealed that 43.7 million females had been issued NIN as of June 26, 2023.
Other performance indicators set for the country include the development of pro-poor functional public and private services employing the foundational ID system for authentication and service delivery; NIN enrolments in rural areas; Government personnel trained in best practices for legal and regulatory enabling environments for foundational ID, including privacy and data protection, all of which must have been achieved by June 2024.