Rwanda is to develop and launch a digital national identity card that residents will be able to store and use on their smartphone and which will replace the country’s existing physical ID card, according to Rwanda’s Minister of ICT and Innovation Paula Ingabire.

The digital credential will incorporate biometric data including fingerprints and iris scans and be available for all Rwandan residents from birth rather than from the age of 16 as is currently the case.

The Rwandan parliament is currently considering legislation that will enable the introduction of the digital ID card “within three years” and “is expected to provide solutions to a number of problems, including the situation where there is a category of population who are not catered for in terms of ID provision”, Rwandan media outlet The New Times reports.

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