World Bank Says Nigeria Can Block $340m Leakages Through Digital Reforms

Nigeria’s digital identity strategy will save the country $340m through strengthening its fight against fraud and diversion of public funds, the World Bank has said.

The Nigeria Country Director of the World Bank Group,Shubham Chaudhuri said this during a monitored digital meeting of the country’s pre-summit event of the Nigerian Economic Summit.

The theme was focused on digital identity as a foundation for the digital economy and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Nigeria had rolled out a $2.3bn digital identity strategy called the National Identification Number.

Chaudhuri said foundational ID is an enabler for more targeted access to services for the Nigerian public and private sectors.

He said a unique identification platform will drive the country’s development policies

Chaudhuri said Nigeria stands the chance to attain a moderate level of financial inclusion with the country’s foundational ID like the National Identification Number.

The World Bank Country head cited Nigeria’s digital identity as a foundation for digitizing the country’s database and credentials.

Chaudhuri recognized that Africa’s economic powerhouse could save millions of dollars on fiscal savings, through the integration of NIN and voter registration.

He said, “I think Nigeria right now with the roadmap that was introduced two or three years ago is to repositioned to have the last acceleration to rolling out this result nationwide.”

Chaudhuri acknowledged that with proper implementation, Africa’s most populous country’s digital ID strategy could impact the bottom line for social and economic planning.

He said, “Nigeria could Combat fraud and minimize the diversion of public resources, leakages and ghost workers at a minimum of $340m in public savings.

“Nigeria stands to witness an inclusive and vibrant digital economy with greater use of the internet, payment platforms, and digital skills.”

Over 60 million Nigerians are without bank accounts, however, Chaudhuri sees the digital ID strategy as a boost to financial inclusion.

Nigeria has a 20 per cent gap in ID coverage for women and a 24 per cent gap in bank account ownership.