Gabon and the World Bank inked a $68.5 million financing agreement this week for the Digital Gabon Project, which aims to accelerate the adoption of digitalised public services and increase the number of people with a unique ID, facilitating inclusive access to public services.

Mays Mouissi, Gabon's minister of economy and participation, and Cheick Kante, World Bank country director for Gabon, signed the deal.

The project aims to improve the legal, regulatory, and technological foundations for data protection, cyber security, and data interchange in the public sector in order to drive digital transformation.

According to the World Bank, it will also help modernise legal identity (ID) systems, such as digitalising the civil registration system and establishing a unique ID that allows inclusive access to public services.

Gabonese citizens will have better access to public services such as social security, health insurance, public procurement, and human resource management information systems if legal ID systems are improved and made easily available through a one-stop platform, according to the statement.

"The country has made considerable progress in high-speed broadband digital infrastructure" Kante stated. "Going forward, this operation will support the country's digital transformation, which is critical for increasing opportunities for all Gabonese citizens and residents. It will help citizens and businesses by increasing the accessibility, availability, and quality of government services."

According to the World Bank, the project's goal is to address persistent inequalities in access to public services, with a particular emphasis on the most vulnerable groups, such as women and children, undocumented individuals, the elderly, people with disabilities, indigenous groups, displacement-affected populations, and others.