Identity as a right: Senegal builds its national digital civil registry 🇸🇳

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With more than 19 million digitized records reportedly processed in 2024, Senegal is showing no signs of slowing down. The country has made the digitalization of its public services a national priority — and on May 22, an announcement out of Dakar confirmed the next major step: Senegal’s civil registry is going digital.

A full overhaul of civil record production 🏛️

The National Civil Registry Agency (ANEC) and the Deposits and Consignments Fund (CDC) have formalized a strategic partnership with a clear mandate: improve the quality, security, and reliability of civil record production across the country.

The partnership takes direct aim at several deep-rooted structural problems. Chief among them is document fraud: reinforced control mechanisms will restrict access to sensitive records to duly authorized personnel only. The era of parallel circuits and long-tolerated forgeries is coming to an end.

On the infrastructure side, the overhaul includes the renovation of administrative centers and the replacement of production equipment. More significant still, a national interconnected database will link every civil registry production center across the country — bringing unprecedented consistency and traceability to a system that has long operated in silos.

Sama État Civil steps in 📲

Supporting the transformation is Sama État Civil, a digital platform designed to take administrative procedures paperless. Senegalese citizens can now submit requests online, from anywhere in the country, and in significantly less time. The platform is built around a straightforward principle: bring the administration to the people, wherever they are.

Answering UNICEF’s alarm call 🌍

This initiative comes against a troubling global backdrop. According to UNICEF, roughly 150 million children under the age of five worldwide still lack a birth certificate — a fundamental right enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

By accelerating the digitization of its civil registry, Senegal is sending a clear signal: it will not remain among the countries still struggling to guarantee their populations basic legal identity. That carries weight both as a statement on digital governance and as a commitment to the fundamental rights of children.