Somalia opens global tender to produce third-generation biometric e-passports

Somalia’s new passport push is about far more than a booklet

Somalia’s decision to tender a “third-generation” e-passport sounds technocratic on the surface — a procurement notice, new materials, a better chip. But in a country where mobility is survival, identity is politics, and trust has been fragile for decades, the stakes are far higher than a redesign. The Immigration and Citizenship Agency (ICA) has put out a global call for bids to produce a polycarbonate, biometric passport aligned with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. If done right, that modest book could become a quiet instrument of dignity for millions of Somalis at home and across the diaspora.

What’s changing — and why it matters

Third-generation e-passports are the current global standard: a hard polycarbonate data page, laser-engraved details that don’t peel, and a secure chip that holds facial biometrics — and, in many countries, fingerprints and iris scans. Those features make counterfeiting harder and border checks faster. ICAO, the UN agency that sets the rules of the air, has spent years pushing states to upgrade, warning that worn paper documents and weak chips slow everyone down and invite abuse.

Somalia last modernized its passport in 2013, when it introduced its first electronic version. That was a significant leap at the time, coinciding with a fragile post-transition moment in Mogadishu. But anyone who has traveled through Nairobi or Dubai with a Somali document knows the drill: extra questions, longer queues, suspicion by default. The global indices bear it out. The Somali passport remains among the world’s least mobile, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to only a few dozen destinations. New materials alone won’t change that ranking overnight. But security upgrades, coupled with clean issuance and verifiable chip data, can earn something harder to measure — confidence at the counter.

A test of state capacity, not just technology

The ICA has promised a transparent, competitive process under Somalia’s Public Procurement Act and plans to use a public-private partnership (PPP) model. In Africa, that model has helped governments move fast on complex identity systems — Ghana’s passport upgrade and Nigeria’s enhanced e-passport both relied on private-sector expertise. It has also produced sobering lessons: vendor lock-in, opaque fee structures, and citizens paying more for documents that become mandatory for everyday life.

Somalia’s tender will be watched closely on three fronts:

• Price and access. How much will a passport cost inside the country and abroad? For a diaspora spread from Minneapolis to the Gulf, fees and time-to-issue can be the difference between seeing a dying parent and missing a funeral. Transparent costing — and a clear list of overseas enrollment centers — will matter.
• Data governance. Biometrics are sensitive. Where will the data live? Who has access? Somalia’s privacy framework is still taking shape; strong, enforceable rules and independent oversight are essential to reassure citizens that their most intimate identifiers are safe.
• Service integrity. A modern passport loses value if issuance is marred by favoritism or forgery. Clean chains-of-custody, audit logs, and routine third-party testing of the chip’s security are as important as the laser engraving itself.

Identity, credibility, and a changing region

Somalia’s upgrade comes amid a broader African push to harmonize travel and identity. The African Union’s Agenda 2063 envisions freer movement. East Africa, where Somalia formally joined the regional bloc in 2023, has rolled out a common-format e-passport that has helped streamline border checks among member states. Somalia’s move aligns with that shift and signals an ambition to integrate more fully — economically and symbolically — with its neighbors.

It also arrives in a world where borders are growing more digital. The European Union is rolling out an Entry/Exit System that will automate biometric checks for non-EU visitors. ICAO is piloting Digital Travel Credentials that could, one day, complement physical passports with secure phone-based IDs for parts of a journey. For a Somali traveler, a chip that “just works” at a fingerprint gate in Doha or a face-recognition kiosk in Addis Ababa is not convenience for convenience’s sake; it’s a small, daily reprieve from the indignity of being singled out.

A document of belonging

Somalis have a saying: safar waa saaxiib — travel is a companion. Remittances from the diaspora pump billions of dollars into the economy each year, keeping families afloat and small businesses alive. Students chase scholarships abroad; traders bounce between markets in Bosaso and Guangzhou; families separated by war and opportunity navigate a patchwork of visas. A passport, then, is not just a travel token; it is a lifeline, a letter of introduction, and — too often — a test of credibility at first sight.

That is why the ICA’s pledge to consult widely — with citizens, civil society, and institutions — carries weight. Beyond the chip and the hologram, people care about design and symbolism. What images carry the nation’s story? How do we balance tradition and modernity on a page that may be a child’s first government-issued proof of self? These are not trivial questions in a country whose national narrative has been contested and rebuilt, piece by piece.

Trust is the hard part

The technical bar for a modern passport is clear. ICAO’s Doc 9303 reads almost like a recipe. The harder work is a social contract: citizens need to trust that the document they pay for will be honored; foreign border officers need to trust that the government’s systems are solid; and private partners need to deliver without holding the state hostage to proprietary systems.

Other countries offer cautionary tales. When fees spike, black markets flourish. When enrollment is centralized in a few urban centers, rural applicants wait months. When data is stored offshore without clarity, rumors fill the vacuum. Somalia can avoid those traps by publishing the contract terms, laying out a realistic rollout timeline, and inviting independent scrutiny — from technologists, lawyers, and everyday travelers who know where the bottlenecks really are.

What to watch next

• The winning bidder and contract details: Who gets the job, what technology will be used, and where the data will be stored and secured.
• Issuance network: A clear map of domestic and overseas enrollment sites — including in major diaspora hubs — and service-level timelines.
• Costs and waivers: Final fee structures, with consideration for students, refugees returning home, and low-income applicants.
• Interoperability: Compliance with regional and global systems to reduce secondary screening for Somali travelers.
• Public oversight: Publication of audit reports and ongoing performance metrics, not just a one-time announcement.

Somalia’s passport will not, by itself, erase the obstacles its citizens face at foreign counters. But a secure, credible, and fairly issued document can smooth the edges of travel for a people on the move. In a country rebuilding its state from the foundations up, that is no small thing. The question, as ever, is whether institutions can deliver the promises that technology makes — and whether the public will be invited to hold those institutions to account, page by page and journey by journey.

By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.