Congo Cancels $1.2 Billion ID System Contract After Costs Spiral
- Contract was for civil registry and national ID cards
- A government watchdog warned of the project’s excessive costs
Buildings on the skyline in the suburbs of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Photographer: Lisa Murray/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The Democratic Republic of Congo canceled a $1.2 billion project to set up a national biometric ID system, months after a government watchdog warned of cost overruns and possible funding irregularities.
The contract — which would have seen French biometrics provider Idemia build a civil registry and print ID cards through an intermediary called Afritech — was annulled on Aug. 12, according to Richard Ilunga, the Director General of Congo’s National Office for Population Identification.