Brief
Foundational ID Systems and Exclusion Risk
Foundational ID Systems and Exclusion Risk
Digital Identity & TrustAfrica2025
Foundational digital ID programmes across six countries show substantial enrolment gaps concentrated among rural and undocumented populations.
Grievance and correction mechanisms are frequently under-resourced relative to error rates in biometric matching, particularly for manual laborers and the elderly.
Linking ID systems to welfare disbursement has, in several cases, produced exclusion rather than inclusion when enrolment or authentication fails.
The brief recommends decoupling essential service access from biometric authentication as a minimum safeguard.