The Vice President, Dr. Mahumudu Bawumia has disclosed that from next year, babies born in Ghana will be issued National ID numbers at birth.

“Starting next year, every new born child will, within a month, be issued with a National ID number. So you’ll have your National ID number, and that will be your number until death. But you can only be issued a card, when your biometrics are fully formed. That is after you are six year old and beyond,” the Vice-President explained.

According to him, the policy is part of efforts to improve the computation of data on citizens, in line with government’s vision of creating a well-digitalised economy.

Addressing a lecture on Ghana's digital economy at the Ashesi University on Tuesday, the Vice President disclosed that, the Birth and Death Registry, is plagued by many challenges with regard to record keeping.

He spoke on the theme, “Transforming an economy through digitalization; the Ghana story”.

Dr. Bawumia argued that, due to recent changes across the globe, it has become necessary for Ghana to depart from traditional methods and adopt more digitalized approaches.

Recounting the state of the Birth and Death Registry, Dr. Bawumia said it has about three different data bases for birth and death registration. The three data bases, according to him, are not integrated, making it difficult for effective monitoring and evidence-based decision making at the Registry.

In his view, this accounts for the widespread incidents of falsified and illegal birth and death certificates in the country.

The Vice President said the issuance of National ID numbers to babies at birth will help improve record keeping at the Birth and Death Registry.

Dr Bawumia also touched on some of the landmark achievements of government in the area of digitalization and highlighted many future interventions and policies including the E-Cedi; a digital cash platform which will be in use from 2022.

Founder of the Ashesi University, Mr. Patrick Awuah applauded Dr. Bawumia for his remarkable efforts in digitizing the economy. Making reference to innovations such as the paperless system at the ports and the use of drones in medical services delivery, Mr. Awuah expressed his delight in hosting the Vice-President for the discourse on Ghana’s digitalization prospects.