E-Business
Report Says over 100m Nigerians Don’t Have Recognised ID
Over 100 million Nigerians lack access to any form of recognised identy Card (ID), and about 500 million Africans do not have any form of recognisable legal identity, according to a report by VerifyMe Nigeria.
In a report titled, ‘Digital ID in Nigeria: State of the Industry,’ the firm said Nigeria like most other nations operates a foundational ID system concerned with accounting for the population overall, and functional IDs to demonstrate eligibility for certain services such as voting or driving.
According to it, foundational ID systems are identical to national IDs issued by the government to clarify someone’s legal status while functional IDs facilitate the identification and authorisation of a people’s eligibility for specific use cases.
It said, “At last count, approximately 500 million Africans had no form of recognisable legal identity.
“Additionally, over 100 million Nigerians, or a little less than half the population do not have any form of recognised ID, including other non-NIN ID.
“This means roughly 40 per cent of the continent and 50 per cent of the country, respectively, lack an integral enabler of benefits such as accessing a financial product, voting, or participating in online marketplaces.”
The firm added that currently, 15 per cent of Nigerians have both an e-ID card and a NIN while 30 per cent have a NIN (66m) but not e-ID card8 (the physical token linked to the NIN).
According to the report, the nation’s digital identity ecosystem is based on the foundational identity of a National Identity Number, which the government intends to make the most widely used form of identity.
It added that the nation is presently undergoing a multi-year harmonisation effort to connect data from various government agencies’ identity datasets to NIMCs National Identity Database.
It said, “There are at least 19 agencies that will be connected to the NIN upon full harmonisation, which presents a remarkable opportunity to dramatically reduce the cost of identity management on a governmental level through the integration and interoperability of databases across various agencies and departments.”
However, there are currently challenges with digital ID uptake in Nigeria with users having limited incentives for uptake as most citizens find enough coverage in their functional IDs.
The firm added, “Nigeria has mandated that SIM cards be linked to NINs in order to continue mobile phone service, and that BVNs be linked to NINs in order to maintain a bank account.
“Enforcement, however, has been lenient. The enrolment process is perceived by some to be too lengthy, and entry points are not streamlined. Current entry points into the digital ID system do not yet follow a streamlined identification lifecycle that connects the civil registry to the NIN
“Enrolment centres are concentrated in city centres, which poses a challenge to reaching the country’s 48 per cent rural and peri-urban population. More men than women are enrolled in digital ID in most areas of Nigeria. Gendered cultural norms and divisions in labour, access to funds, and access to transport are likely play a role in this discrepancy.
“Lack of interoperability across legacy functional IDs currently prevents enrolment with a user’s functional ID of choice or convenience from also populating the NIDB. Attempting to retroactively harmonise datasets—as the NIMC is presently trying to do—raises concerns about data integrity.
“Neither telecoms nor voter data is AML compliant, as the identities they issue are not unique and can be easily duplicated across multiple locales. Similarly, one can register multiple SIM cards using various combinations of ID data like address or marital status.”
.
Transcorp Hotels Plc has delivered a stellar performance in the first half of 2025, recording a 60% year-on-year surge in revenue to ₦47.57 billion, up from ₦29.72 billion in H1 2024. Gross profit climbed 71% to ₦36.21 billion, maintaining a strong 76% margin despite inflation and operational headwinds.
The hospitality giant, a subsidiary of Transnational Corporation Plc, also announced an interim dividend payout of ₦1.024 billion — offering ₦0.10 per 50 kobo ordinary share to shareholders.
In a bold move, the company unveiled Nigeria’s largest corporate venue — the 5,000-seat Transcorp Centre — staking its claim as the new leader in event hospitality. Chairman Emmanuel Nnorom described the results as proof of Transcorp Hotels’ transformative strategies and unwavering investor commitment. MD/CEO Uzo Oshogwe attributed the success to relentless execution and a resilient business model.
Transcorp Hotels, renowned for iconic assets like Transcorp Hilton Abuja and its digital platform Aura, says it isn’t just leading Nigeria’s hospitality sector — it’s redefining excellence across Africa.
Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.
China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.
The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.
“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.
The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.
It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.
Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.
Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.
Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.
A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.
“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.
Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.
Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.
It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.
Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.
According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.
NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”
The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.
NIBBS: Banks Close 29.4m Accounts, Dormant Accounts Hit 33.39m
NDPC Hides MultiChoice Privacy Violation Details Despite FOI Request- FIJ
Cardoso, CBN Boss Risks Arrest over Alleged N5.2 Trillion Unremitted Funds
UK Businesses Look to Africa As Strategic Growth Partners
FG Plans N50m STEEM Grant to Support Student Innovation in August
General News2 days agoFG Plans N50m STEEM Grant to Support Student Innovation in August
E-Business2 days agoTranscorp Hotels Delivers Stellar H1 Results, Declares Over ₦1Bn Dividend
Telecom2 days agoMTN Media Innovation Programme Fellows Gain Insight into Nigeria’s Connectivity Backbone
E-Financial2 days agoCardoso, CBN Boss Risks Arrest over Alleged N5.2 Trillion Unremitted Funds
General News2 days agoExperts Champion Sustainability at Lagos Green Economy Forum
General News2 days agoUK Businesses Look to Africa As Strategic Growth Partners
Telecom2 days agoDriving Digital Inclusion: Anambra’s Mobile Tech Hub Brings Free WiFi to the People
Telecom3 days agoAirtel Africa Grew Customer Base to 169m as Q1 Revenue Hits $1.4 Billion