Leap-frogging in Nigeria

Here's another example of biometrics being used to leap-frog the technologies and methods other countries have used in the past to build an ID infrastructure. Even if the Nigerian government had the resources to attempt a paper-heavy, labor-intensive duplication of the systems some countries built in the early twentieth century, it isn't at all clear that it could produce a better outcome than cheaper biometrics.

NIGERIA: Banks to Start Biometric Customer Registration on Friday (Daily Times)

"There will be teething problems, but we will learn from it. The biometric initiative is being pursued by the Bankers' Committee," the Access Bank boss said.

The Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr. Ugochukwu Okoroafor, said the biometric system, when fully operational, would help to improve credit in the economy and boost the nation's macro- economy.

Okoroafor said, "Nigeria runs on cash; there is no identity. We don't know who is who. We are now going into identity confirmation. We can now create a credit system that will power our economy.

"Banks don't want to lend because of identity issue. We want to move Nigeria from cash system to credit system that has identity."