by Chris Burt<\/p>\n
The Democratic Republic of Congo has cancelled a $697 million contract to set up a biometric national identity system and deliver ID cards. The contract is held by Afritech, with Idemia as a technology supplier.<\/p>\n
The price tag for the ID system and supporting infrastructure had ballooned to $1.2 billion, three times higher than the original estimate from the DR Congo\u2019s ONIP (Office Nationale de l\u2019Identification de la Population), Bloomberg reports.<\/p>\n
Bloomberg and Lighthouse had described the contract as being held by a \u201cconsortium\u201d made up of Idemia and Afritech, but Idemia Senior Vice President for the Middle East and Africa Olivier Charlanes told Biometric Update in an interview that his company had a contract with Afritech, not a consortium. He acknowledged \u201cinconsistencies\u201d in the contract arrangement, and said that Idemia had asked Afritech to clarify the situation. Idemia was open to all options, Charlanes said, including cancelling its contract.<\/p>\n
Now, an Idemia representative has confirmed the cancellation to Biometric Update in an email.<\/p>\n