The World Bank has approved $50 million in financing for the Nepal Digital Transformation Project, an initiative aimed at expanding the country’s digital public infrastructure and accelerating the digitization of public services.
The project focuses on modernizing government platforms, including the development of an integrated online citizen service portal and a centralized social registry to support access to public services.
Core components include a secure, government-wide data exchange and a digital locker designed to manage verifiable credentials alongside a digital wallet. Together, those elements place the program firmly within the digital identity and credentialing domain.
Electronic signatures, cybersecurity, and data governance form part of the project’s foundational architecture, supporting trusted digital transactions as additional services move online.
The initial phase will prioritize the digitization of high-impact services, beginning with land administration, with other public services expected to follow in subsequent phases.
The financing is structured as a joint co-financing arrangement with the Asian Development Bank, which is expected to contribute an additional $40 million. ADB plans to take its financing package to its board in March 2026.
Implementation will be led by Nepal’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in collaboration with the Department of National ID and Civil Registration. The agencies will oversee delivery of the shared platforms and digital locker infrastructure.
The initiative aligns with a broader regional push toward digital public infrastructure, including the World Bank’s Sri Lanka digital transformation project announced in late 2025.
It also reflects global identity challenges highlighted in World Bank ID4D data on the legal ID gap, which has driven increased government investment in verifiable credentials and digital wallets.
At the application layer, governments are increasingly adding official documents to digital wallets, such as digital birth certificates, signaling how credentialing capabilities are being integrated into public service delivery.
For technology providers and implementers, the Nepal project represents a large-scale government deployment of digital locker and wallet infrastructure closely tied to identity proofing and credential management. Details on procurement timelines have not yet been disclosed.
Sources: World Bank
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
