On Wednesday September 16th, 2026, Mr George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, drummed in Abuja. That was on the occasion of the National Day of Identity 2026, with the theme, ‘Nigeria’s Digital Public Ecosystem: Powering Africa’s Digital Economy’. The event underscored the growing connection between identity and economic integration. And the SGF linked the progress recorded by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) as one of the clearest delivery stories of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Speaking at the event, the Secretary described Nigeria’s expanding digital identity infrastructure as an important foundation for the country’s participation in Africa’s digital economy. According to SGF Akume, trusted digital identity infrastructure is already providing a foundation for banking, telecommunications, social protection and cross-border trade. He also linked the development to opportunities emerging from the African Continental Free Trade Area.
His argument goes beyond technology. A functioning digital identity system can reduce the uncertainty surrounding transactions. A bank needs to know who is opening an account. A fintech company needs confidence that a customer is who the customer claims to be. A government agency needs to know that a beneficiary exists and is entitled to a particular intervention.
In each case, identity is the beginning. Akume described the progress of NIMC as one of the clearest delivery stories of the Tinubu administration, pointing to rising enrolment and deeper integration with banking, telecommunications and social protection. The SGF also stressed that identity reform cannot be left to NIMC alone. The project, he argued, requires the full weight and coordination of government.
That observation is critical. Digital identity succeeds not merely because an agency has a database, but because institutions are able to use trusted identity responsibly and securely. SGF Akume praised President Tinubu for signing the NIMC Act 2026. He said that strengthens the legal architecture supporting Nigeria’s identity management system, while strengthening data protection and establishing NIMC as the country’s root certification authority for identity. It also gives legislative backing to an evolving ecosystem in which identity verification can become increasingly seamless. Innovations such as NINAuth and self-service data modification had already begun changing the relationship between citizens and their identity records, making it easier for Nigerians to verify identities and manage information. The new law provides the institutional footing upon which such innovations can develop.
For Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NIMC, Engr. Dr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, the need for a new law reflects the dramatic difference between Nigeria of 2007 and Nigeria of 2026 Technology has changed. Cybersecurity threats have evolved. Expectations around privacy have grown. Digital commerce has expanded. The law therefore attempts to bring the country’s identity architecture into the contemporary digital age. And she is correct.
There is a point at which a government database stops being merely a government database. That point arrives when banks begin to depend on it, when fintech companies build services around it, when businesses use it to establish trust, when government uses it to deliver benefits, and when citizens can move through the economy with less paperwork because a trusted digital identity travels with them. Nigeria may now be approaching that point. The country has registered 137.3 million National Identification Numbers and counting, according to the material presented by the National Identity Management Commission. But the significance of that number is not simply that millions of Nigerians have been enrolled. The bigger question is what the country can build on top of that enormous identity foundation.
That is where the National Identity Management Commission Act, 2026 becomes consequential. Signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on June 26, 2026, the Act repeals the 2007 Act. law and establishes a new legal framework for Nigeria’s identity ecosystem. More importantly, NIMC says the law designates it as the Root Certification Authority for Nigeria’s National Public Key Infrastructure and Digital Public Infrastructure, while empowering secure and interoperable data exchange across public and private institutions.
This is no longer simply a story about identification cards or NIN slips. It is a story about infrastructure. And ultimately, it is a story about economics. Nigeria’s digital identity journey did not begin with the 2026 Act. The 2027 NIMC Act established the institutional framework for the national identity system and gave the Commission responsibility for managing the national database, issuing NINs and providing identity credentials.
This is no longer simply a story about identification cards or NIN slips. It is a story about infrastructure. And ultimately, it is a story about economics.
But the system acquired a much greater economic and security significance when identity became increasingly connected to other national systems. The NIN-SIM linkage policy dramatically accelerated enrolment. Telecommunications operators were required to connect subscribers’ phone numbers to verified identities, partly to strengthen traceability and combat fraud and criminal activity.
The financial system subsequently moved in the same direction. The linkage of NINs and Bank Verification Numbers was intended to consolidate customer records and strengthen the fight against financial crime. By 2025. The BVN database had reached 67.75 million, while NIN enrolment stood at 123.9 million in October of that year, according to the supplied material. The 2025 tax laws subsequently adopted NIN as the official Tax Identification Number for individuals.
The World Bank provides another measure of the journey. Its Nigeria Digital Identification for Development programme supported a rise in digital-ID enrolment from 36.9 million in 2020.to more than 111 million by November 2024, with particular attention to women, children, internally displaced persons, refugees and persons with disabilities. The Bank also notes that identity authentication has helped vulnerable populations access digitally enabled financial, health, education and social-safety-net services. The register, therefore, is no longer an isolated administrative project. It is becoming part of Nigeria’s economic machinery.
The second era is the NIMC Act 2026. The law changes the architecture. What the NIMC Act 2026 seeks to do is take the country into the next phase. Acceding to Odusote-Coker, CEO NIMC, the legislation establishes the NIN as the foundational identity credential and reinforces the principle of “One Person, One Identity.” It also formally recognises physical and digital identity credentials linked to the NIN and strengthens NIMC’s role in digital authentication and electronic trust services.
But one provision stands out. NIMC is designated as the Root Certification Authority for Nigeria’s National Public Key Infrastructure and Digital Public Infrastructure. In plain language, that means the identity system is being positioned as part of the trusted digital foundation through which government and private-sector systems can authenticate people and exchange information securely. This is important because modern economies increasingly depend on invisible digital systems. A consumer may never see the infrastructure behind an online bank account. A trader may never see the systems that authenticate a payment. A citizen may never see the databases behind a social-protection programme. But all of these systems depend on one fundamental question: Can the system reliably establish who is who? The new law is designed to make Nigeria’s answer to that question stronger. The beauty of it all is that it moves from data base to digital public infrastructure. How is this possible?
The World Bank defines Digital Public Infrastructure around foundational systems such as digital identification, interoperable payments and secure data exchange. Its argument is that these systems can enable citizens, businesses and governments to transact, access benefits and share information safely.
This changes the economic interpretation of identity. Identity is not valuable simply because it exist. It becomes valuable when other systems can securely use it. That is the distinction between a database and infrastructure.
The NIMC Act provides for secure, interoperable data exchange among government institutions, private organisations and other authorised entities. NIMC says this is intended to support digital transactions, improve service delivery, strengthen cybersecurity and provide the backbone for Nigeria’s wider digital economy.
The possibilities are substantial. A verified identity can reduce duplication. It can help institutions authenticate customers. It can make digital onboarding easier. It can strengthen fraud controls. It can support targeted public programmes. And, if properly implemented, it can reduce some of the friction that prevents people and businesses from participating fully in the formal economy. But these are possibilities of the infrastructure—not results that should automatically be assumed simply because the law has been passed. That distinction matters.
The act also passes the MSME test. If Nigeria wants to know whether digital identity is delivering economic value, it should look closely at the country’s micro, small and medium enterprises. MSMEs constitute the overwhelming majority of Nigerian businesses and are central to employment and economic activity. Yet access to formal finance remains a major constraint.
The World Bank’s $500 million FINCLUDE programme, approved in 2025, illustrates the scale of the problem. The Bank said fewer than one in 20 Nigerian MSMEs had access to bank credit and that collateral requirements, expensive loans and short repayment periods were significant barriers. The programme aims to expand financing to 250,000 MSMEs, including 150,000 women-led businesses and100,000 agribusinesses.
Digital identity alone will not solve this financing problem. But reliable identity can become an important part of the solution.
Digital identity alone will not solve this financing problem. But reliable identity can become an important part of the solution. Lenders need to know who a customer is. Digital platforms need to authenticate users. Financial institutions need reliable information to manage risk and comply with regulatory requirements. The economic opportunity therefore lies in combining identity with other infrastructure—payments, credit systems, business registration, financial data and digital platforms. The NIMC Act creates part of that foundation. The financial system must determine how effectively it can be used.
The African trade opportunity also beckons. The identity debate also extends beyond Nigeria’s borders. Africa is attempting to create a much larger integrated market through the African Continental Free Trade Area. But signing trade agreements does not automatically make markets function as one.
The World Bank’s 2026 assessment of African integration makes precisely this point: the economic impact of AfCFTA will depend heavily on whether the systems firms use every day—customs, payments, transport, finance, digital platforms and data—can work together across borders. Fragmentation remains one of the continent’s major obstacles.
That makes digital identity increasingly relevant. The African Union’s Digital Trade Protocol seeks to create a secure and trustworthy digital-trade ecosystem and encourages common standards and interoperability to facilitate cross-border digital trade.
The implication for Nigeria is significant. A Nigerian entrepreneur trading digitally with a customer or business elsewhere in Africa will increasingly operate in an environment where authentication, payments, data and regulatory compliance must work across borders. Nigeria’s identity infrastructure therefore has a domestic job and potentially a regional role. But again, this is an opportunity rather than an accomplished outcome. For Nigeria to benefit fully, national identity systems will need to interact with compatible regional frameworks, while privacy and data-governance rules must be respected.
Privacy is the price of trust. This is another side to the digital identity revolution. The more valuable identity data becomes, the more dangerous its misuse can become.A national digital identity system contains information capable of affecting a person’s access to financial services, telecommunications, government programmes and other aspects of economic life. Consequently, trust is not an optional feature. It is the foundation.
Nigeria already has the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, whose stated objectives include safeguarding the rights of data subjects, regulating personal-data processing, strengthening security and privacy, and providing legal foundations for the trusted use of personal data in the national, regional and global economies.
The NIMC Act itself strengthens privacy and data-protection safeguards, according to NIMC, and includes measures addressing identity theft, impersonation and multiple registration. But the existence of laws is not enough. Citizens must trust the institutions implementing them. They must know what information is being collected, why it is required, how it is protected and what remedies exist when something goes wrong. That is why cybersecurity, privacy, aaccountability and transparency must develop alongside digital identity. Without trust, digital infrastructure becomes a liability rather than an asset.
India and Singapore offer us some lessons. International comparisons are instructive. India’s Aadhaar demonstrates what can happen when a national digital identity becomes deeply connected to public and private services at enormous scale. Singapore’s Singpass demonstrates another model: a highly integrated digital identity environment in which citizens can authenticate themselves across numerous government and commercial services.
Neither model can simply be transplanted into Nigeria. India has a different institutional and demographic environment. Singapore is smaller and has a different level of connectivity and administrative capacity. But both demonstrate an important economic principle. At the end of it all, identity becomes transformative when it becomes usable. Nigeria therefore should not measure success merely by asking how many people have NINs. The harder questions are: How many services can safely use trusted identity? How quickly can citizens be authenticated? How much fraud can be prevented? How much unnecessary paperwork can be eliminated? How much easier can businesses interact with customers and government? How effectively can citizens control their personal information? Those are the metrics that will determine whether the NIMC Act becomes transformational.
The signing of the law was a milestone. Implementation will be the real test. NIMC itself says regulations, guidelines and subsidiary instruments will be developed to give full effect to the Act, with continued engagement involving government institutions, the private sector and development partners.
This is where the technical language of interoperability becomes a practical question of governance. Government agencies must actually connect. Private-sector platforms must be able to authenticate identity securely. Standards must be consistent. Systems must be resilient. Citizens must be able to access services without unreasonable barriers. And vulnerable populations must not be excluded because they lack conventional documentation, permanent addresses, connectivity or digital literacy.
The new law specifically provides for measures aimed at underserved populations, including persons without permanent residences. That inclusion agenda could become one of the most important tests of the reform. A digital economy cannot be genuinely inclusive if the people at the margins cannot enter it.
Look at the economic payoff. Ultimately, the NIMC Act should be judged by what happens outside NIMC. Its success will be visible when a small business spends less time proving who it is. When a financial institution can verify customers securely. When government can deliver assistance to the right people. When digital services become easier to access. When fraud becomes more difficult. When legitimate commerce becomes less expensive and more predictable.
When Nigerians can participate in an increasingly digital African economy without repeatedly having to prove their identity through fragmented systems. That is the economic promise of Digital Public Infrastructure.
The World Bank’s global DPI programme describes digital ID, payments and secure data exchange as shared foundations capable of expanding access, inclusion and economic opportunity. Its Nigeria experience already demonstrates that identity authentication can help connect underserved populations to digitally enabled services. Nigeria now has the opportunity to take that foundation further.
The easiest part of digital identity is counting enrolments. The difficult part is turning identity into trust. Nigeria has already demonstrated that it can build a national identity register at extraordinary scale. The NIMC Act 2026 now attempts to answer a more ambitious question: Can that identity infrastructure become an engine of economic participation?
The answer will not be found in the number of NINs alone. It will be found in interoperability, in privacy, in cybersecurity, in financial inclusion, in MSME growth, in public-service delivery, in regional digital trade. And ultimately, in whether an ordinary Nigerian experiences the digital state as something that removes friction rather than creates another layer of bureaucracy.
The transformation, therefore, is not from paper to plastic. It is from identity to infrastructure. It is from registration to utilisation. It is from compliance to economic value. And it is from a national database to the possibility of a trusted digital foundation beneath a modern Nigerian economy.
The NIMC Act 2026 has supplied the legal architecture. The institutions, businesses and citizens of Nigeria must now determine what kind of economy will be built on top of it, being the institutional footing upon which such innovations can develop.