At the prestigious ID4Africa 2025 Summit, Moses Kwesi Baiden Jr., CEO of Margins ID Group, delivered a powerful keynote address titled “Unlocking the Power of Digital Identity: The Ghana Card’s Impact on Healthcare.” His presentation spotlighted Ghana’s national identity program as one of the most comprehensive and advanced digital ID systems on the continent—and in the world.
Margins ID Group, along with its subsidiaries, was one of only two African companies featured at the summit and the sole participant to have successfully implemented a national identity system of such magnitude and complexity.
Baiden underscored how the Ghana Card, a legally-backed biometric identity system, is revolutionizing public service delivery. Designed to provide a single, secure, and universally accepted form of identification, the Ghana Card connects citizens to essential services from birth through to death.
Fully integrated with both public and private sector systems, it functions online and offline, ensuring nationwide verifiability and reliability.
Speaking to a high-level audience of policymakers, technologists, and identity system leaders, Baiden declared, “The Ghana Card isn’t just a piece of plastic. It’s the foundation for national development—a digital backbone for healthcare, governance, and economic inclusion.”
He revealed that Ghana is already saving millions of dollars annually in the healthcare sector by replacing the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards with the Ghana Card. These savings come not only from operational efficiencies but also from a significant reduction in fraudulent claims due to precise biometric verification at points of care.
Building on this momentum, Ghana is now advancing toward an integrated e-health ecosystem, including e-pharmacy services and home-based healthcare solutions. What was once considered futuristic is now being realized through a distinctly Ghanaian innovation that redefines digital identity on a global scale.
With more than 98% of Ghana’s adult population registered and the enrollment of children underway, the Ghana Card has processed over 200 million biometric verifications. This makes it not only one of Africa’s most successful ID projects but also one of the most sophisticated worldwide.
Baiden emphasized that Ghana’s success stems not just from scale, but from a well-thought-out strategy: “A single, legally grounded identity system is the cornerstone of digital transformation. Without it, you can’t build reliable ecosystems for e-government, e-commerce, or the broader industrial revolutions of our time.”
He also urged global platforms like ID4Africa to promote African-developed technologies more vigorously. “Innovation should come from everywhere, not just the West. We’ve proven that African technology can lead—and it deserves to be showcased globally.”
The rise of Margins ID Group is a story of local vision, expertise, and long-term investment. From its roots as a Ghanaian printing company, it has evolved into a continental leader in secure identity solutions. Through its subsidiaries—Identity Management Systems (IMS) and Intelligent Card Production Systems (ICPS)—and in collaboration with the National Identification Authority (NIA) of Ghana, Margins ID conceptualized, designed, and deployed the Ghana Card system.
This public-private partnership is now regarded as a benchmark across Africa. It demonstrates that strategic collaboration can yield tangible, scalable outcomes—transforming not only identity management but also access to health, financial, and government services.
As Africa works toward achieving SDG 16.9—universal legal identity for all by 2030—Ghana is not merely keeping pace; it’s setting the standard.
Baiden closed his keynote with a powerful reminder: “The success of any identity system is not just about technology. It must serve society, deliver real value, and offer lasting, trustworthy solutions.”
