The National Identification Authority has outdoored a new national identification card, with the promise to launch its massive registration exercise in the coming days.

At a news briefing in Accra Wednesday, NIA Executive Director, Professor Ken Agyemang Attefuah said the Authority is prepared to embark on the exercise, projected to formalise Ghana’s economy.

“The National Identification Authority is ready to provide Ghanaians with a modern robust national identification system and a smart ID card that will meet the modern aspirations of the people of Ghana and carry us into the future,” he said.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is expected to launch the nationwide registration exercise on September 15.

The launch will officially pave the way for the roll out of the new identification process.

The NIA has explained the exercise will start with the security agencies, schools, banks and the population in the Greater Accra Region.

The next stop of the registration van will be areas in the Central, Western and Brong Ahafo Regions. The rest of the regions will later follow, the NIA boss has said.

Ghanaians resident in other countries have not been left out of the registration process. An opportunity will be given to them to register for the card at a fee wherever they are.

The new identification system was an outcome of a private public partnership with the Margins Group which has been tasked to print the new ID cards.

Margins Group CEO, Moses Baiden described the new card as the most secured Identification card with about 14 international security features.

It also has a multi-purpose function, he told the media.

Another new feature of the card is the passport and ECOWAS logos on it, which allow it to be used in place of a passport across ECOWAS member countries.

Mr Baiden explained one of the functions of the new card is that apart from it being a national identification card, it will also be linked to one’s bank account to enhance modern payment systems.

The new ID card is expected to have a lifespan of 10 years after which it will be renewable at a fee to be determined by the Authority.