Digital identity has been described as a critical foundation for building trust and expanding access to Nigeria’s growing digital economy. The Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, made the assertion during a high level panel session on identity and access to the digital economy convened by the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, at the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
Abdullahi said digital identity should be viewed as more than a card or identification number, describing it as “the trust layer of the digital economy.” According to him, a trusted identity infrastructure would allow authorised innovators and service providers to build on existing foundational systems rather than creating separate and fragmented identity platforms. Such interoperability, he said, could accelerate customer onboarding, reduce verification costs and expand access to digital services.
The NITDA chief explained that the benefits could extend across several sectors, including fintech, healthcare, education, agriculture, insurance and government services. Using a farmer as an example, he said interoperable digital infrastructure could allow an individual to establish identity through the National Identification Number, verify eligibility on an agricultural platform, receive support through a payment system and access authorised government services without repeatedly submitting the same information to different institutions.
Abdullahi said Nigeria’s next challenge was to transform the growing scale of digital identity into practical and trusted utility for citizens. He stressed that the objective should not simply be to identify Nigerians, but to build a secure and interoperable digital ecosystem that enables people, regardless of their location or economic circumstances, to access essential services and participate safely in the digital economy. He summed up the broader role of digital identity by saying, “Digital identity is not the destination; it is the doorway.”