Ethiopia and Mozambique formalized a three-year Memorandum of Understanding on digital identity and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) cooperation on April 27, 2026, during a state visit to Addis Ababa by Mozambican President Daniel Francisco Chapo. The agreement pairs FaydaVerse Digital Solutions Enterprise, Ethiopia’s commercial technical arm for Fayda digital ID implementation, with Mozambique’s Agency for Digital Transformation and Innovation, known by its Portuguese acronym ATDI.
The agreement was signed by Adilson dos Santos Cousin Gomes, head of ATDI, and Yodahe Zemichael, Executive Director of Ethiopia’s National ID Program. FaydaVerse is the commercial vehicle created from Ethiopia’s Fayda digital ID system launch that targeted 90 million adults and became one of the continent’s most ambitious national identity programmes. The Mozambique MoU follows the same South-South framework as Zambia’s adoption of Ethiopia’s Fayda model, positioning FaydaVerse as a replicable African digital identity exporter.
The MoU covers six primary areas: development of digital identity platforms and authentication services; implementation of DPI pilot projects; interoperability between government systems; technical capacity-building for Mozambican specialists; joint development of cybersecurity policies and solutions; and promotion of technological sovereignty and reduction of dependence on external vendors. FaydaVerse will provide specialised technical assistance including support for system architecture and implementation, technical team training, and system integration aligned with international best practices. ATDI will be responsible for coordination and resource mobilisation on the Mozambican side.
The depth of FaydaVerse’s knowledge base is grounded in Fayda’s integration across 55 Ethiopian institutions, demonstrating the platform’s operational maturity before its export to Mozambique. Among the deliverables FaydaVerse may deliver is expertise from Ethiopia’s Fayda mobile ID app, which extended the national system’s authentication reach to smartphone users.
Gomes emphasised that “a secure and trusted digital ID system facilitates public service access and improves financial inclusion,” describing digital ID as “a critical component” of modern state infrastructure. The agreement may be renewed upon mutual acceptance after three years.
Mozambique joins Zambia, which signed a comparable DPI cooperation arrangement with Ethiopian institutions in 2025, in adopting the Fayda model through Ethiopian technical partnership.
Sources: Ethiopian Government Communication Service, TechAfrica News
