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Good practice Imported

Sierra Leone's DSTI — Building a National Digital ID for 5 Million Citizens Through Local Agent Brokers

Sierra Leone · Freetown · See the Sierra Leone profile · See the Freetown profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 42% 71/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Sierra Leone's presidential innovation directorate built a biometric national digital ID now held by over 5 million citizens, using local community brokers to reach previously undocumented residents and unlock bank accounts and services.

5.1 million
Citizens enrolled in the national biometric digital ID (cumulative)
~6 million
Previously undocumented people estimated to have gained legal identity (cumulative)
Sierra Leone's DSTI — Building a National Digital ID for 5 Million Citizens Through Local Agent Brokers

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) / National Civil Registry Agency (NCRA)
Period
2019–present
Keywords
digital government, digital identity, innovation policy

Context

Sierra Leone's Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) was established in 2019 inside the Office of the President, led by a Chief Innovation Officer reporting to the President and Chief Minister, with a mandate to use science, technology and innovation to support national development priorities.

Activities

Its flagship delivery is a biometric national digital identity issued through the National Civil Registry Agency (NCRA), unlocked by a citizen's thumbprint. Rather than relying only on registration centres, the programme trained local community brokers to travel to residents who lacked any legal identity document.

Results

The programme has enrolled more than 5.1 million citizens and is estimated to have helped around 6 million previously undocumented people gain a legal identity; one widely reported case saw a citizen open her first bank account using only her digital ID and thumbprint. International observers such as Public Digital have cited DSTI as a reference case for inclusive digital government.

Conclusions

No independently measured evaluation of downstream economic or welfare effects has been published, and the programme's heavy reliance on its founding leadership — its first Chief Innovation Officer later became Sierra Leone's Chief Minister — raises questions about institutional continuity.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — National biometric ID infrastructure combined with a trained local community-broker network to reach undocumented residents.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — DSTI established 2019; enrolment surpassed 5.1 million citizens within several years of rollout.
Staffing & skills
Chief Innovation Officer reporting directly to the President, Local community brokers trained to enrol undocumented residents, National Civil Registry Agency (NCRA) staff

Conditions for success

  • Presidential-level mandate and direct reporting line for DSTI
  • Local, trusted brokers travelling to reach residents lacking documentation
  • Biometric (thumbprint) unlock enabling downstream services such as bank accounts

Common failure modes

  • Heavy reliance on founding leadership — the first Chief Innovation Officer later became Chief Minister — as a continuity risk
  • No independent evaluation yet of downstream economic or welfare effects

Where it fits

Governance type
Centralised presidential innovation directorate
Scale
National
Income level
Low-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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