This regional policy note focused on Sub-Saharan Africa shares new data collected in partnership between the World Bank’s Global Findex and Identification for Development (ID4D) initiatives. The note reveals fresh insights about the relationship between having a government-issued identification document (simply referred to as ID in this note) and accessing basic services such as government support, financial services, or healthcare. We explore these subjects through the lens of data on four select economies: Benin, Mozambique, Niger, and Tanzania. All the data related to IDs derives from survey questions fielded as part of the Global Findex 2021, which asked respondents whether they personally possessed their economy’s foundational ID. For each economy, the survey used the actual term for the foundational ID in the local language.
Access to ID varies across Sub-Saharan Africa
Government-issued identification documents (ID) serve as an entry card for a wide range of everyday services in Sub-Saharan Africa. Depending on the country, adults may need to show their ID to receive a government benefit payment, register their children for school, receive medical care, or sign up for a financial account.
Access to an ID varies widely across the continent. In the 36 Sub-Saharan African economies where the World Bank collected data, 78 percent of eligible people above the age of 15 own one (see Figure 1).1 Yet individual economies tell a more nuanced story. In places like Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia, more than 90 percent of men and women above the age of 15 have an ID. They stand in contrast to economies like Benin and Mozambique, where fewer than 60 percent of eligible people have one. In seven Sub-Saharan African economies in our sample, less than 60 percent of adults have an ID, and in 13 economies less than 70 percent of adults have one (see Figure 1).2