The Democratic Republic of Congo has cancelled a $1.2 billion project to set up a national biometric ID system, months after allegations of financial irregularities.
Richard Ilunga, Director General of Congo’s National Office for Population Identification, confirmed that the contract with the French biometrics provider Idemia, which would have seen it build a civil registry and print ID cards through the intermediary Afritech, was cancelled on August 12, 2024.
Although Ilunga did not state the reason for the contract’s cancellation, he mentioned that the project was abandoned after a meeting with several government agencies and representatives from the Idemia-Afritech partnership.
This development is on the heels of a Bloomberg and Lighthouse investigation, published on August 9, which revealed how funds intended for the national ID system were leveraged to serve a small number of elites.
Per the investigation, starting from 2020, nearly 60 companies approached the government with proposals to implement this system, which the National Office for Population Identification (ONIP) estimated would cost around $360 million.
However, by the time a consortium, including biometrics provider Idemia and local partner Afritech, was chosen as the preferred vendor, the proposed cost had risen to $1.2 billion, more than tripling ONIP’s initial estimate.
The proposal from Idemia and Afritech is said to involve “flagrant overpricing,” raising the risk that the contract could become a “massive scam.”
