Digital Zambia Acceleration Project — A $100M World Bank Push for Inclusive Digital ID and Connectivity

On 23 September 2025, the World Bank approved a $100 million International Development Association (IDA) grant for the Digital Zambia Acceleration Project (DZAP), implemented by the government's SMART Zambia Institute. DZAP is the Zambia component of the second phase of the regional Inclusive Digitalization in Eastern and Southern Africa (IDEA) program, a roughly $2.48 billion, multi-country World Bank initiative also covering Angola, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and COMESA.
DZAP is structured around four pillars: affordable broadband connectivity, an interoperable and secure digital-ID platform for government services, high-impact digital services in agriculture, education and health, and program management/capacity building. The World Bank's own framing is explicit about inclusion by design: the project 'aims to empower women and girls, persons with disabilities (PwDs), and other vulnerable communities' through digital public services, rather than treating accessibility as an add-on.
Percy Chinyama, National Coordinator of the SMART Zambia Institute, has said citizens will receive national digital ID cards by the end of 2026, with the identity and e-services infrastructure built under DZAP. World Bank Practice Manager Mehnaz Safavian noted the project is meant to strengthen service delivery and build employment-ready digital skills for Zambian youth.
As of the September 2025 approval, DZAP is a funded, government-owned program with a public commitment to disability and gender inclusion, but it is still in early implementation: no independent evaluation of enrollment, accessibility outcomes or service usage exists yet, and the end-2026 digital-ID rollout target has not been verified as met.

Read the full analysis: https://mobileidworld.com/zambia-targets-mobile-first-digital-id-rollout-with-mosip-integrator-procurement/