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Aug 11, 2025, 11:09 am EDT

Concerned parties within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and specifically, countries of the West Africa Unique Identification for Regional Integration and Inclusion (WURI) program, have okayed a document that signals progress in efforts to ensure digital ID interoperability in West Africa.

The Foundational Identification Systems Interoperability and Mutual Recognition of ID Credentials Strategy was reviewed and validated alongside another document during a recent workshop hosted in Ghana’s capital, Accra.

The event brought together representatives of foundational identity (fID) agencies and functional service providers.

An ECOWAS press release hails the importance of the strategy, noting that it sets the tone for decisive action in ensuring the interoperability of foundational identity systems among the five WURI project member states, as well as in the wider West Africa region.

The WURI project countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger and Togo, but Burkina Faso and Niger have quit the ECOWAS bloc, making their continuous participation in the regional ID program uncertain.

The validated strategy, the release notes, will “support the countries to make informed decision in the formulation, harmonization and adoption of a common position on the fID systems interoperability and mutual recognition of fID credentials agenda.”

Ghana’s Interior Minister Mubarak Mohammed is quoted as praising the role of the WURI project in facilitating access to legal and digital ID which he says enables access to a broad spectrum of government and social services.

A WURI regional task team leader from the World Bank, Emil Tesliuc, recalled the overall agenda of the WURI project which is to enable countries meet the SDG 16.9 target. The official underlined the importance of ID interoperability saying it can drive socio-economic inclusion and regional integration among countries of the region.

The adoption of the strategy aligns with efforts by countries in the region with regard to the digitization of their national ID systems. This will lead to “improved service delivery, free mobility of persons, and regional integration,” a representative of ECOWAS’ Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture said at the workshop.

ECOWAS says the validation of the document will serve as a digital transformation guide for countries wishing to put in place inclusive digital public infrastructure that facilitates access to public services.

Digital ID interoperability has been a subject of advocacy by some organizations like UNECA which believe harmonizing national ID systems on the continent can accelerate socio-economic progress. There has also been a push from industry players for global digital ID interoperability.

In 2023, six African nations signed the Smart Africa Trust Alliance (SATA) declaration which signalled their intentions to foster collaboration on personal data and digital identity interoperability.

At the Internet Governance Forum in June, the issue also came up for discussion in one session, with suggestions for trials by neighbouring countries to see how feasible such a move could prove to be.

In June, the 2025 West Africa Economic Summit (WAES) also underlined the need to move from speeches to action on the interoperable digital ID idea for West African countries.