A training program for management staff as well as those who will be deployed in the field for a mass biometric registration exercise in Togo has started.

According to report by Togo First, the training, which began on October 28, will take place until November 18 in all five administrative regions of the country. The date for the start of registration itself has not been announced.

The training is carried out thanks to a collaboration between the National Institute of Statistics and Economic and Demographic Studies (INSEED) and the National Identification Agency (ANID). Those affected by the training were selected in March.

The upcoming biometric registration campaign is part of the WURI-Togo digital identification project which aims to give every Togolese a unique identification number that will allow them to easily access public services. Togo’s basic identification system is based on MOSIPwith Atos and Idémie involved in the ID project.

Officials say a pilot project had already been conducted for the mass biometric registration exercise which was supposed to have started in the last quarter of last year. The platform to be used has also been tested.

Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé spoke about the importance of biometric census in May last year, saying this would lead to the issuance of biometric identity cards which will enable the government “to be more effective and efficient in implementing our social protection policy”.

Togo was one of the four countries that joined the WURI project funded by the World Bank in 2020. The country receives funding of approximately $72 million for the project.

Article topics

Africa | National Identification Agency (ANID) | biometric registration | biometrics | marital status | digital identification | Go | WURI