Africa Smart Card Market Size (2024 - 2029)

Africa Smart Card Market Analysis

The African smart card market is expected to register a CAGR of 5.1% during the period 2022-2027. Various African countries are embracing digital initiatives, such as smart cards for authentication, to enhance governance, with governments increasingly adopting the technology. For instance, the adoption of smart card technology in many parts of Africa has contributed to the integrity and credibility of elections.

• In the case of an integral part, a biometric voting system is deployed, which checks the authenticity of voters and reduces the possibility of electoral fraud and irregularities. Smart card technology has been seen to have improved the integrity of elections since its introduction in Nigeria's electoral process.
• The spread of smart card systems in both the public and private sectors, especially in Nigeria, has recently increased in the region. Initiatives for national ID systems, detecting payroll fraud, ensuring student election integrity, and securing retail payments in the country were matched by mobile services, elections, and mobile banking initiatives in other countries on the continent.
• Over 17,000 ghost workers have been eliminated in Nigeria from the payroll of a single state with biometric registration. Similar technology was used for a student election, showing that biometrics-backed NINs can be provided to its entire population. The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) announced that Nigeria's digital identity plan is achievable within three to five years and is expected to cost between USD 433 million to USD 2.4 billion.
• However, the biggest problem facing smart cards is their level of security in Africa. To reach their full potential, smart cards must be able to interact with a host of interfaces. But there is an issue with security involving the public perception of technology. People might not be aware enough about protecting their card and the personal details it holds because they believe the cards are secure. But they are unaware that all the information taken from the smart cards' use is collected and analyzed somewhere and somehow.
• Moreover, amid the rapidly shifting landscape in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the smart cards in Africa are finding increasing deployment in various end-user industries, especially in the healthcare sectors, owing to the benefits rendered.

Africa Smart Card Industry Segmentation

A smart card is a pocket-sized card made from plastic and embedded with integrated circuits known as microchips. The applications of smart cards are for security purposes such as authentication, identification, data storage, and application processing.

The scope of the study covers the application of smart cards in end-user industries like IT, BFSI, and Transportation, among others, across countries like South Africa, Kenya, and others.