With 160 million inhabitants Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. Now this emerging country can claim another another title. After several years of preparation time, the National Identity Management Commission of Nigeria (NIMC) has now launched the first national electronic identity card with a payment application.

At the end of August 2014 the first residents of Nigeria received their copy of this multifunctional e-ID document, a contact smart card similar to a traditional credit card. This polycarbonate eID replaces the current printed plastic identification document. To make the card usable, a sophisticated eID infrastructure has been deployed, which includes registration authorities, identity management systems, and secure card production facilities. Additionaly mobile devices for enrolling, reading and even updating some data stored on the card are important infrastructure components, as well.

In the first phase, the Nigerian eID is used for three applications: as a proof of identity, for digital payment (based on the EMV standard), and for digital signature with biometrics. The Nigerian eID is the first national project in the world that combines eID functionality with a payment system. Following the motto "Bank the Unbanked” this feature provides first time access to electronic payment to millions of Nigerian citizens. In the next project phases the multifunction card will be extended to support additional electronic uses like driving license, health information card, tax record and voting functionality.

Other technical aspects of the Nigerian eID project are impressive as well. With full card issuance it will represent one of the the largest and most complex Public Key Infrastructures (PKI) deployed worldwide. This PKI is comprised eight certification authorities and will issue over 300 million certificates. This infrastructure is necessary to protect the eID system and the card iteself from hacker attacks.

The various applications that run on the Nigerian eID card have been implemented with Java Card technology. This open standards based approach delivers a high level of transparency and independence for the customer. In addition, the modular architecture easily enables future extensions and changes. A new card profile was developed especially for the Nigerian identity card in order to support this functionality. Within this framework it is possible to implement such a large range of applications on a single smart card.
To encourage the electronic uses of the eID card, every eID cardholder is entitled to use a special NIMC branded middleware which includes the necessary cryptotgraphic interfaces and libraries to use biometrics and digital signature on personal computers running Windows, OS X, or Linux.

All aforementioned core software components (PKI, card applications, and smart card middleware) are delivered by Cryptovision. "We are thrilled that our entire solution range is applied in this unique project,” says Markus Hoffmeister, CEO and managing director of the Gelsenkirchen-based company. Cryptovision acts as key part of a consortium consisting of leading technology companies ncluding; NXP, Trüb, Austria Card, Mastercard and Datacard. The cooperation of each of these different vendors has enabled this unparalleled scope of this project.

This project approach requires the overall architecture of the eID system to be based on established standards and documented interfaces. Without a prime systems integrator, the major part of the deployment work takes place onsite in close cooperation of the consortium members. This paradigm facilitates the Nigerian government to develop in-house expertise and alleviates any dependence from the respective technology providers. This approach was favoured over a turnkey solution delivered by a single vendor, as the complexity of the resulting system could be a major problem for the operator without in-house experience at all of the infrastructure components. Says Markus Hoffmeister: "We are greatly indebted to NIMC because they are not only a reliable partner, but also have the expertise and courage to implement such an innovative approach.”