The project will commence in July 2023 and aims to enhance financial sector efficiency within the participating countries, leading to increased access to finance and further regional integration efforts.
Over 53 financial service providers across the participating countries will be included in the project, allowing them to verifytheir clients’ identities on an ongoing basis, combat fraud, discourage loan defaulting and strengthen correspondent banking relationships.
The countries of The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone face significant challenges in developing their financial sectors and providing access to formal banking services for their populations. The World Bank reports that financial inclusion in these countries is low, with only 15.7% of adults in Sierra Leone having a formal bank account as of 2017. The lack of access to banking services is linked to a lack of reliable identification documents, as well as other barriers such as high transaction costs and physical distance to banking facilities.
Efforts were made to address these challenges through the development of digital identification and banking infrastructure. The Nigerian government has implemented a successful biometric identification system called the Bank Verification Number (BVN), which has significantly reduced fraud and improved the efficiency of electronic banking in the country. The success of the BVN has inspired similar initiatives in other African countries, including the Unique Bank Identification (UBI) project in West Africa.
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