Mari has implemented digital platforms across the country to promote access to important documents in the Marian Diaspora.
The new digital platform will be deployed throughout Mali's diplomacy and consul missions around the world, allowing diaspora to access management, identity and travel documents, WeareTech.africa reports.
“This initiative represents a significant advance in modernizing and protecting administrative data while simplifying access to important documents for our international brethren,” said Abdoulaye Diop, the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
The platform is said to be fully designed and developed by Marian experts, and apart from streamlining services for Mali citizens living abroad, it is expected that they will do the same for foreigners applying for a Mari visa. Mali is working to digitalize all public services within the next few years, making it a broader digital transformation drive. The administration is involved with Huawei to install additional fiber optic cables and build data centers to promote this, the Ecofin Agency reported last September.
Diop added that the launch of the new platform reflects its commitment to “more efficient and responsive management.” The platform is also compatible with Liptako Visa, a Confederate visa system established by the Sahel Alliance (AES), which promotes regional mobility.
Mali, along with other West African countries Burkina Faso and Niger, launched a general biometric passport last month. The three countries grouped under the AES now operate military-led governments (under military governance). The new passport is the result of abandoning it in the Economic Community (ECOWAS) of the West African States (ECOWAS), a regional group of 15 West African countries. After the launch of the new passport, Mali's transition leader and chairman of AES Lieutenant General Assimi Gaita said the old passport will remain valid until it expires.
China's identity solutions provider emathech reportedly lobbyed the Maria administration to prepare documents issued by the Maria government, but sources previously told the Biometric Update that Emphech was not involved in the production of new passports for the three Sahel nations.
The decision of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to leave ECOWAS also has broad implications for the World Bank-supported Regional ID Project to promote socioeconomic growth and integration in West Africa. West Africa Unique Identification for Regional Integration and Inclusion (WURI) Projects was designed to support the issuance of six ECOWAS state basic IDs, including Burkina Faso and Niger.
Article Topics
Digital Economy | Digital Government | Digital ID | Huawei | ID Document | Mari
