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Good practice Imported

Smart Wallet — Djibouti's Biometric Mobile Digital ID and Public-Services Wallet

Djibouti · Djibouti City · See the Djibouti profile · See the Djibouti City profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 62% 53/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Djibouti unveiled a biometric mobile ID on 9 February 2026, built with Visa and TECH5 under a 'Smart Wallet' programme letting citizens verify identity by face, iris or fingerprint on a phone to access services like building permits and tax payments.

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
Ministry of Digital Economy and Innovation & Ministry of the Interior, Republic of Djibouti
Period
2025–
Keywords
digital identity, biometrics, digital wallet, public-private partnership

Context

Djibouti's digital transformation drive, framed around its Vision 2035 plan, has included a legal framework for digital identity and electronic signatures.

Activities

In September 2025 the government signed an MoU with Visa and biometric-identity vendor TECH5 to build a national digital wallet; on 9 February 2026, President Ismail Omar Guelleh and Minister Mariam Hamadou Ali unveiled a biometrics-based mobile ID letting residents access online public services including building-permit applications and tax payments.

Conclusions

No published figures yet exist on enrolment numbers, processing-time savings or fraud outcomes; Djibouti separately began a UN-supported national AI strategy process in February 2026, indicating governance frameworks are still being built alongside deployment.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
Ministry of Digital Economy and Innovation, Ministry of the Interior, TECH5, Visa

Conditions for success

  • Legal digital-ID/e-signature framework in place
  • Biometric enrolment infrastructure

Common failure modes

  • Governance/AI-strategy frameworks still being built alongside deployment rather than ahead of it

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Data sources

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