Ghana Sets Out Biometric SIM Registration After Its Last Attempt Fell Short

Ghana will introduce biometric verification into SIM registration before the end of the year, the second attempt at an exercise whose first run left more than 10 million subscribers only part-way through.

Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations Minister Samuel Nartey George said Parliament has passed the Legislative Instrument on SIM registration, clearing the way for the next phase. He was speaking at the Government Accountability Series at Jubilee House in Accra.

Subscribers will have to provide biometric data such as fingerprints as part of registration. The ministry says that will make it harder to register a SIM under a fraudulent identity, improve the traceability of subscribers and tie every SIM to a verified identity.

The original exercise began on October 1, 2021, and ran in two stages. Subscribers first linked a SIM to their Ghana Card, then completed biometric capture at a service provider’s customer care centre or agent.

By October 2022 roughly 28.96 million SIMs had been linked to Ghana Cards, 67.28 percent of all SIMs issued, but only 18.93 million had completed both stages, 44.28 percent. Nearly 10 million subscribers who cleared the first stage never returned for the second.

The exercise formally closed on May 31, 2023, after repeated deadline extensions, still with more than 10 million partially registered subscribers exposed to deactivation. MTN Ghana alone blocked about 5.4 million unregistered SIMs at the close.

The National Communications Authority and the ministry have both acknowledged that the earlier effort did not fully achieve its objectives of reducing fraud and strengthening public confidence in communication services.

The regulator held stakeholder consultations on 13 March this year to review the draft SIM registration rules. Those covered registration requirements for residents and foreigners, financial and operational considerations, limits on the number of SIMs per identification card, and the registration of minors and diplomats.

“The work is far from finished, and I will not pretend otherwise. But the direction is unmistakable, the results are measurable, and the resolve of this Ministry is unshaken,” George said.

The Ghana Card sits underneath the exercise, and the authority that issues it has already made biometric verification mandatory for Ghana Card checks. The card has also picked up functions beyond identification, adding an embedded payment wallet to the national ID.

Sources: MyJoyOnline

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team