World News | Kenya could find a good digital ID partner in India

Nairobi [Kenya]May 21 (ANI): With Kenya determined to provide digital identities to all Kenyans by February 2024, New Delhi could find a good partner for digital identities and platforms in India thanks to its expertise in the digital space.

India was a natural choice for Kenya to collaborate on digital identity projects, especially in digital work in general.

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Kenya’s cabinet secretary in charge of information communication and digital economy, Erud Owabo, said that the purpose of Kenya’s issuance of digital cards is to help people access government services more easily.

This project differs from Huduma Namba (permanent ID number and card) in that there is no ID card associated with it. Digital identities will only help Kenyans with their online identities.

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Kenyan officials cited the success of digital identity programs in India, Estonia, Belgium and Pakistan in deciding on digital identities.

The vision for Kenya’s national digital identity is inspired by countries such as India, which are appreciated for their effectiveness in providing essential social security and welfare support to the masses even during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Digitization also prevents loopholes in financial assistance to India’s poor by skipping multiple layers of institutions and reducing transaction times for direct benefit transfers.

Owabo emphasized that digital identities will interface with national information management systems and facilitate central population databases.

All government data on Kenyans will be linked to their digital identities, and all public services will be delivered through digital channels. The digital ID will be linked to UPI from birth to death.

Indian expertise and experience can not only help Kenya to build population-scale public goods (DPG) – a set of networked, interoperable utilities such as Aadhar, (UID), UPI, eKYC, Account Aggregator (AA), Open Credit Enabling Network (OCEN) ), Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), while also optimizing the efficiency of the implementation of social security and welfare programs and financial transactions.

Kenya could also seek a multi-platform public digital ID and digital platform Line of Credit (LoC) from India for at least part of the estimated cost of US$100 million. For Kenya, India is a reliable development partner.

In addition to being trade and investment partners, the two countries can also be considered maritime neighbors. India is Kenya’s top six trading partners (bilateral trade volume 2.208 US dollars) and the second largest investor.

The two countries also have a strong track record in developing partnerships through a project signed in 2017 to support agricultural mechanization.

The people-to-people and cultural relations between India and Kenya are friendly and enduring. In view of the increasing number of Kenyan tourists from India, the two countries have operated direct flights on the Mumbai-Nairobi route since 2019.

India is actually Kenya’s third largest source of tourists, not counting tourists from neighboring countries. A vibrant community of Indian origin currently numbers around 80,000 people, of whom an estimated 20,000 are Indian citizens.

Kenya should explore a greater partnership with India in digital technology. India is now considered one of the world’s top three digital powerhouses based on the number of people using or participating in its digital networks, the total number of businesses and start-ups, and internet web and mobile penetration. Indian expertise in this field is reliable and distinguished.

India can be of great help to Kenyan plans to use UPI with NEMIS school platform, National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and National Social Security Fund (NSSF) as it has the expertise and experience to do so time and cost. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)