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By March 2023, Ghana will integrate smart driver's licenses with national ID card

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has disclosed that it will integrate its database with the National Identification Authority (NIA) by Q1 2023.

By March 2023, Ghana will integrate smart driver's licenses with national ID card
Traffic at Accra’s central business district – a route taken by 2 million commuters each day. Credit: Getty Images

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has disclosed that it will integrate its database with the National Identification Authority (NIA) by Q1 2023.

According to DVLA's CEO, Kwasi Agyeman Busia, the authority has already connected its technology infrastructure with the NIA database while working on applications that would ensure that national identification cards (Ghana Cards) are integrated into the system.

"The technology infrastructure is ready, tried and tested. What needs to happen now is the application that we need to work on. We have to do some coding on the application part to make sure that the systems are feeding into each other or handshaking so that once a person comes to DVLA and gives us their Ghana Card, we get every information about them," Busia stated.

According to him, the seamless integration between the DVLA and the NIA would also facilitate business with other stakeholder agencies such as the National Insurance Commission, the Motor Traffic and Transport Division and the National Road Safety Authority.

"With the integration, when you are trying to apply for a driver's license, there is no need to sit in our office for two hours to fill out forms. Once you give us your Ghana Card, we should be able to pull your data and make use of it," he added. This scenario is similar to the continued integration of bank verification numbers (BVN), SIM cards and National Identification Numbers (NIN) in Nigeria.

In 2017, Ghana became the first West African country to introduce a smart driver's license as part of the government's efforts to remove the human interface from the process of issuing new licensing.

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