Togo: President Gnassingbé announces biometric census, adding to general and electoral ones
Wednesday, 03 May 2023 13:58 
(Togo First) - In a recent interview with New World TV, the President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé announced a new census, a biometric census. The operation is separate from the ongoing general and electoral censuses.
On the air, Gnassingbé said: "I also take this opportunity to tell the population that it is true that we have the general census and the electoral census. There will be a third census to offer a biometric card to every Togolese so that we can be effective in our social protection policy".
Through the additional census, personal and biometric data of citizens will be collected and they will receive a Unique Identification Number or UIN. This is a number assigned to all Togolese residents to facilitate interactions between citizens and administrations, as well as for the digitalization of public administration.
The government already took the first steps to materialize the project.
In March 2022, for instance, Lomé approved a bill to facilitate the creation of a social register of individuals and households, by leveraging the UIN.
A National Identification Agency was also set up in line with the project, and it is already operational.
Moreover, in May 2022, a meeting was held in Lomé for the WURI, a program that aims to help people in the ECOWAS move more easily across the region and access public and private services by creating a biometric registry. Six countries are involved, and the program has received $400 million from the World Bank. Joachim Boko, a social protection expert at the World Bank, said that Togo is doing well in implementing this program.
The biometric census project should have started at the end of 2022 but was delayed. Though he said it would still happen, President Gnassingbé did not specify exactly when.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
