- The contract to produce biometric national ID cards in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) is at risk of being cancelled due to allegations of financial irregularities.
- Per Africa Intelligence, the $697 million contract is currently under investigation by the Democratic Republic of Congo's Inspectorate General of Finance (IDF), with a possibility of cancellation.
This development comes nearly a year after the country announced the launch of its new national ID card ahead of its national election last year.
The contract, awarded to a consortium comprising Afritech, a local firm, and Idemia, a French identity giant, has since been under scrutiny, prompting calls for renegotiation due to alleged “overbilling”.
Per a report, Samba Bathily, Afritech founder, has been restricted from travelling out of the country as state authorities are investigating his business entities.
The country has been facing the challenge of the National ID for some time. Before the launch of the biometric national ID cards last year, the last time it issued an identity card was between 1984 and 1987, leading to the introduction of plastic cards. However, the process was not completed.
Fast-forward to 2020, the country revealed plans to implement a new population register and biometric ID system by the end of the year through a “private partnership or other types of financing.”
Reports indicated that the World Bank was supposed to fund the project in at least two instalments, but the plan fell through. The project was later put on hold.
Subsequently, in February 2023, major companies in the biometrics and digital ID space including France’s Idemia and Thales and Germany’s Veridos are said to be among those running for the contract to produce new-generation national ID cards.
In 2022, Pangea, an Israeli firm, was awarded a government contract to provide an automated biometric identification system for law enforcement and background checks worth more than $70 million.
The contract is a part of the country’s public-private partnership (PPP) agreement making the firm develop and operate a centralised, automated criminal biometric identification system (ABIS) that the government will use to generate certificates of integrity (also known as certificates of non-criminal record) for citizens.
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Later in the same year, German biometrics firm Dermalog won a contract worth $48 million to produce biometric passports in the country.
