Accra: President John Dramani Mahama has endorsed Margins ID Group and its CEO, Moses Kwesi Baiden Jr., for their pioneering role in reshaping Ghana’s digital identity landscape through the Ghana Card. Speaking at the 9th Ghana CEO Summit in Accra, the president highlighted how the Ghana Card has become much more than just an ID, serving as the backbone of a digitally sovereign and competitive economy.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mahama shared that other African nations, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, are looking to replicate Ghana’s model. He mentioned a request from the DR Congo seeking a reference on Moses and the Ghana Card system. He assured them of the system’s success. Mahama also pointed to innovations like the planned reintroduction of road tolls, where every vehicle is linked to its owner’s Ghana Card, facilitating seamless transactions without traditional toll booths.
Moses Baiden expanded on this by highlighting the real-time integration of the Ghana Card with key government systems. He explained that with the card, data verification occurs within 300 milliseconds, ensuring vehicle ownership and driving licenses are accurately connected to individuals, enhancing law enforcement efficiency.
Baiden described the Ghana Card as the ‘infrastructure of trust’ necessary for modern governance, economic growth, and social inclusion. He emphasized that citizens can access services round-the-clock, verify identities, make payments, and open bank accounts instantly with facial verification.
He cited the transformation at the DVLA as a case study, noting that linking the Ghana Card to biometric verification has digitized decades-old data, enabling real-time validation of insurance, driving licenses, and vehicle ownership. In the health sector, national ID numbers are now issued at birth, allowing for improved healthcare planning and fraud prevention.
Moses Baiden also highlighted the benefits to national security, stating that police and intelligence services can now conduct instant identity verifications and track suspects across borders using the Ghana Card. This advancement eliminates the issue of unidentified victims in mortuaries.
He reinforced the importance of public-private partnerships, crediting the Margins-led initiative since 2012 for building a robust identity infrastructure. Baiden concluded with a call for digital sovereignty, emphasizing that Ghana must build and innovate its technology to shape its future.
Moses Baiden was recognized for his leadership and innovation in the technology sector, receiving two prestigious honorary awards: ‘CEO of the Year – Technology, Infrastructure, National’ and ‘CEO of the Year – Technology/ICT Sector.’