Page 83 - The Digital Financial Services (DFS) Ecosystem

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Ecosystem

We identify limited access to resources as a barrier to carrying out effective registration campaigns in several
programs. Resource challenges include: broken or insufficient equipment and/or material (Cambodia – National
ID, Indonesia, Nigeria – NIN, Peru, Thailand, Ukraine – Biometric Passport); undertrained staff (most commonly
regarding language diversity) and/or limited human resources (Indonesia, Peru, Sri Lanka, Uganda); and lack
of logistical support, guidelines, or public awareness regarding the enrollment process (Algeria, Indonesia,
Nigeria – BVN, Nigeria – NIN, and Zambia – NRC).

In addition, we find evidence that the complexity and/or high centralization of enrollment procedures
causes challenges with enrollment in three countries (Cote d’Ivoire, Iraq, and Kenya). The enrollment process
in Kenya, for example, involves in-person verification at the National Registration Bureau, and printing and
physical mailing of applications and ID cards. One review states that “This process, according to the NRB,
is supposed to take approximately 30 days. But residents from the sample districts (with the exception of
Nairobi) reported that in reality the feedback process could take as long as 2 years” (KNCHR, 2007). Complex
and lengthy registration procedures can have a larger impact on cost, data management, and coverage (The
Carter Center, 2011).

4.5 Coverage

Twenty-two programs report challenges associated with coverage, which we define as the extent to which
a program is able to penetrate different geographic and demographic populations. In many cases, limited
geographic coverage strongly impacts demographic coverage as populations living in remote areas or far from
program facilities are disadvantaged and excluded from enrollment (see Table 4 for further analysis).
Six programs (Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria – BVN, and Peru) report geographic barriers as a
limitation to comprehensive coverage. We find evidence that a lack of enrollment, printing, or distribution
centers is a central barrier for five of these programs (Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Nigeria – BVN, and Peru).
One example is Ghana, where the production of identification cards only occurs in the Greater Accra and
Ashanti regions, and distribution of cards is limited to the Greater Accra region. Citizens outside of these
regions are not restricted from using the facilities, but the high cost of travel to the locations is a barrier to
enrollment (Akrofi-Larbi, 2015). In Peru, lack of available registry centers is identified as a potential reason
for low enrollment, and itinerant registration drives (meaning traveling teams and mobile registration) were
initiated to help reach more populations. While mobile registration may increase enrollment of citizens living
in remote areas, itinerant registration teams experience challenges with data management and enrollment
through technical and human resources (Reyna, 2014).

NADRA in Pakistan runs one of the most effective campaigns aimed at reaching full geographic (and demographic)
coverage. The program included procuring mobile registration vans and motorcycle units, and hiring man-pack
units of hikers, mountaineers, and skiers to hike into remote areas to both educate and enroll citizens in the
program. While this program helped NADRA reach a 98 percent coverage rate, it is relatively resource intensive
(Malik, 2014). Some countries may therefore be precluded from using similar measures to increase coverage.

The cost of enrollment varies depending on the resources used for registration. Reported unit costs – the total
cost per individual for enrollment, registration, production, etc. – range from US$0.37 (Ghana) to US$79.80
(Peru). This wide range in costs range can be attributed in part to the heightened costs associated with
itinerant registration and enrollment in areas with low population density. For example, the cost to register
an individual in Peru at a service office costs US$10.32, but registration costs rise to US$21.83 in the coastal
region, US$42.05 in the highlands region, and US$79.80 in the jungle region (Reyna, 2014). Financial resources
may therefore limit a program’s ability to address challenges with geographic coverage. Kenya’s national
identification program coverage is constrained by budget allocation decisions. Funding is equally distributed
between all districts without attention to size, population, or geographic features. This practice leaves areas
with greater need for funding without the means to implement enrollment drives, disadvantaging populations
in those districts (Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, 2007).
In addition to geographic barriers to coverage, nineteen programs have evidence of limited coverage of
particular demographic groups. For many developing countries previously lacking any official identification

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