Ethiopia has taken the next step to introduce a new national identification scheme after the government awarded a $300,000 contract to Madras Security Printers Private Limited for the printing of 1 million copies.

INTRODUCING FAYDAY – THE NATIONAL ETHIOPIAN ID

An Ethiopian resident who holds a Fayda Number will be able to get access to any digital-based services given all over the country. pic.twitter.com/JBxpq9psIi

— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) November 21, 2023

So far, according to the National Identity Program (NDIP), the process, which began in 2022, has registered over 3.5 million Ethiopians for the national IDs, referred to as Fayda.  The government aims for universal registration of all adults from the 120 million populace by 2025.

Currently, the most common form of identification in Ethiopia is referred to as the Kebele ID, estimated to cover 90-95% of Ethiopians, primarily designed to indicate a person’s residential address. This is used in conjunction with other functional identification documents like driver’s licenses and international passports to verify an individual’s identity.

The upcoming Fayda cards will be integrated into the existing functional ID systems utilized for various purposes, including the residence credential that Ethiopians commonly use for daily identification. These cards will be personalized to include biometric data for authentication to access a range of public services, and also perform identity verification for on-boarding to new bank accounts.

The National Bank of Ethiopia (which is the Central Bank of Ethiopia) and the NDIP aim to enroll all bank customers for digital identification during the 2023/2024 fiscal year. This initiative aims to expedite the government’s goal of achieving greater financial inclusion.

According to the Central Bank, the implementation of Fayda as the primary identification method for banking operations will lead to substantial enhancements in transparency, stability, and security within Ethiopia’s financial sector.

Presently, Know Your Customer (KYC) processes are predominantly reliant on paper-based and manual methods, and the National ID Program (NIDP) aims to substantially expedite these verification checks.

In a related development, though not directly connected to Fayda, a digital identity system for teachers and students is to be introduced using the Cardano blockchain for the Ministry of Education.

As reported by Fortune, a local media outlet, Input Output HK, the company behind the Cardano blockchain, was awarded the contract to provide this system to 5 million students and 750,000 teachers. This initiative aims to combat academic fraud and enhance the management of student records.

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Uganda has signed an agreement with CargoX to establish TradeXchange, a national trade facilitation platform.

“Uganda’s Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on August 23, 2023 with the Technology Associates & CargoX consortium (TA-CargoX).”

According to CargoX, the platform will:

• Support exporters
• Resolve trade bottlenecks
• Help traders easily comply with global trade standards, and
• Buttress Uganda’s ambitious goal of doubling its exports by 2026

“TradeXchange will be a blockchain-based collaboration platform that streamlines processes and enhances information flow among farmers, producers, traders and government bodies. It helps government offer more efficient regulation on accreditation, quality and produce traceability in a secure manner, promoting trust between participants, preventing fraud, and minimising disputes.”

– CargoX

Moreover, this system is expected to unify Uganda’s trade practices with global standards, boosting production, packaging, quality control, and eventually, multiplying export growth.

The new platform will be built on CargoX’s Blockchain Document Transfer (BDT) solution for simple, efficient, and secure global electronic trade document transfer.

CargoX’s Blockchain Document Transfer (BDT ) is the same solution employed by Egypt for its National Single Window for Foreign Trade Facilitation (NAFEZA) system which is used to facilitate and expedite the review and release of foreign shipments upon their arrival at a port entity within Egypt.

NAFEZA has condensed over 26 cargo-related government systems into one, reducing customs documentation from 18 to just 6. Since implementing NAFEZA, import compliance costs have dropped from $600 to under $165 and cargo release times have improved from 29 days to under 9 days.

According to Igor Jakomin, Deputy CEO of CargoX, the CargoX Platform for Blockchain Document Transfer (BDT) is used by more than 115,000 companies worldwide, and has processed more than 5.3+ million electronic trade documents to date without noticeable downtimes or operation failures.

“We are pleased to work with CargoX who already do work in COMESA and many other parts of the world, to bring fresh thinking on how to gather, build and utilize data for our Exports from Uganda,” said Odrek Rwabwogo, Chairman of Uganda’s Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID).

“Our target of USD 6 billion in five years would be difficult to attain without more reining our hard infrastructure as well as the soft one in digital performance,” he added.

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About CargoX

CargoX is the world leading provider of the CargoX Platform for Blockchain Document Transfer (BDT), intended for creation, signing and transfer of electronic trade documents in structured and unstructured form.

The CargoX Platform reduces manual paperwork and administrative burdens. This can lead to improved efficiency, enhanced agility and faster clearance times by participants in trade ecosystems, including exporters, importers, shippers, freight forwarders, air/sea carriers, ports & customs authorities and financial institutions, who participate in the import and export of goods.

In stamping their authority as a global leader in trade process automation and secure document flow, CargoX has won a range of awards and accolades, viz C4DTI Awards 2023 Best Crossborder Trade Software System / Technology Solutions Provider of the Year; TLME 2023 Most Inspiring Solutions in Digitalization Award; 2021 Logistics Project Award Slovenia; SXSW Pitch 2019 finalist (among 800 startups); IRU World Congress Startup Competition; #DataccioConnect Blockchain Innovators Award; TLME Most Innovative Solution 2019 and TLME best Blockchain Innovation of the Year 2019 and listed as FreightTech top 100 company three times.

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