Somalia leads in Africa with ePassport rollout

The Transitional Federal Government of the Somali Republic has started issuing new ePassports and electronic national identity cards to its citizens. The ePassports are designed to international standards as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and use the latest contactless chip technology incorporating facial and fingerprint biometrics.

The project was contracted to Just Solutions Limited (JSL), a company specialising in the production of electronic identity documents in Africa. JSL has successfully financed and provided the Somali Government with a complete turnkey solution incorporating hardware, software & consultancy, all of which reduced the risk and capital investment normally associated with these types of projects.

From document specification approval, JSL delivered the first batch of ePassports & ID Cards within 4 months. The first ePassport and National Identity Card was handed over by Stephen Roberts, the JSL General Manager - Africa to Rania Mohamed Ali at the Somali Embassy in Nairobi.

IRIS Corporation Berhad (ICB) is a supplier to JSL on the project. Together the companies will reportedly issue up to two million ePassport books with inlays and the same number of e-Identification cards over a five-year period. This number is not exactly clear however, as the government currently controls only parts of Somalia and has fewer than a dozen diplomatic missions outside the country.

Old Somali passports, reportedly described as some of the most forged in the world, are be become invalid after six months.

Somalia has been wracked by chaos and no functioning central government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.