Trust Stamp to Advise Nigeria on Digital ID Framework

- Trust Stamp's technology focuses on "biometric tokenization," which converts biometric data into an irreversible, anonymized token instead of storing raw images of faces or fingerprints. This is designed to enhance privacy and security within Nigeria's digital ID system. - The collaboration is a key part of Nigeria's ambition to build a $1 trillion digital economy, for which "Digital Trust" is considered a foundational pillar by NITDA's Director General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi. - This initiative is part of a broader push for digital identification in Nigeria, supported by a $430 million program funded by the World Bank, the French Development Agency, and the European Investment Bank. The goal is to increase the number of Nigerians with a National Identification Number (NIN) from 127 million to 180 million. - Nigeria is currently working to unify its various data collection systems through the Nigerian Data Exchange Platform (NGDX) to prevent citizens from having to repeatedly submit personal and biometric data to different government agencies. - Trust Stamp is already active in Nigeria, working with a telecommunications provider to combat SIM-swap fraud, showcasing a practical application of its identity verification technology in the country. - NITDA's strategy is not to promote specific technologies but to create supportive regulatory frameworks that allow private sector companies like Trust Stamp to innovate and contribute to the digital economy. - The technology provided by Trust Stamp is designed to work in environments with low connectivity and on devices with low specifications, which is crucial for expanding digital services to a broader population in Nigeria. - This partnership aligns with Nigeria's National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020-2030), which aims to diversify the nation's economy away from oil and gas by leveraging digital technologies.