By 
Zimbabwe risks falling behind in the global shift toward digital identity systems, even as neighboring South Africa accelerates its rollout of Smart IDs.
Earlier this year, South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs announced that it had issued more than four million Smart IDs in 2025 alone, part of an aggressive digital transformation program linking identity systems to services such as driving licences and online verification platforms.
The pace matters because digital IDs are quickly becoming the backbone of modern economies, simplifying access to banking, healthcare, taxation, and online government services.
Zimbabwe, however, remains far from achieving similar progress. While the country has recorded growth in mobile subscriptions and internet access, as highlighted in the latest Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) sector review, connectivity alone is not enough to sustain a nationwide digital ID system.
Large parts of rural Zimbabwe continue to face weak network coverage, electricity shortages, and unstable internet connectivity. High data costs and outdated base stations leave many districts underserved. A digital identity system cannot function consistently if citizens cannot reliably connect to the internet.
Cybersecurity is another pressing concern. Digital IDs centralise sensitive personal information, including fingerprints, facial recognition data, and civil records. Zimbabwe’s cybersecurity framework is still developing, while cases of cybercrime and digital fraud are on the rise.
The civil registry system also poses challenges. Long queues, document backlogs, and delays in processing passports, birth certificates, and national IDs remain common. Although some services have partially moved online, most citizens still depend on physical visits to government offices.
A functional digital ID ecosystem requires real-time databases that integrate across departments from the Registrar General’s Office to banks, immigration, mobile operators, and tax authorities. Zimbabwe is still far from achieving such interoperability.
What Zimbabwe needs is a phased national digital transformation strategy that will stabilize electricity supply, expanding fibre and mobile broadband coverage, building secure cloud infrastructure, and strengthening cyber laws. Government departments should digitize records before attempting to issue fully digital identities.
Digital literacy is equally critical. Millions of Zimbabweans still lack basic cybersecurity awareness, leaving them vulnerable to scams, phishing, and identity theft. Without public education, a digital ID ecosystem could create more risks than solutions.
South Africa’s success did not happen overnight as its Home Affairs department invested heavily in verification systems, printing infrastructure, and digitised public services before accelerating Smart ID production and in the same space, Zimbabwe would require similar long-term investment and political commitment.
Zimbabwe has the potential to eventually implement digital IDs, but the country is not yet technologically or institutionally ready to issue them at South African scale.
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