Addressing stakeholders at the event, Founder and CEO, Mr. Moses Kwesi Baiden, noted that Ghana already had robust legal and policy frameworks, including the “buy local” agenda. However, their impact had been limited by weak implementation and persistent scepticism about local technical capacity. He decried the inconsistent application of government policies intended to promote domestic industry, saying this had often undermined the growth of strong local enterprises and hindered sustainable wealth creation.

Drawing on the company’s experience during the early stages of the national ID card tender process in the early 2000s, Mr. Baiden recounted how a Ghanaian-led proposal to establish a secure card production facility in Africa was initially met with concerns about national security — a reaction he described as a “mindset problem” that has constrained confidence in local innovation.

Margins Group operates across identity management, secure card production, and digital systems integration. Mr. Baiden stressed that the firm — now one of Africa’s most certified secure production facilities for intelligent cards and security products — has demonstrated its competence both domestically and internationally.

He noted that the company, through its partnership with the National Identification Authority (NIA), was the first African firm to produce a secure national identity card on the continent and to lead a national ID project. The Ghana Card system comprises more than 20 interconnected subsystems, spanning biometric registration, secure manufacturing, cybersecurity, and lifecycle management, with inputs from over 30 suppliers.

Beyond national identification, Margin Group’s operations in Ghana include banking card production, vehicle registration, border control solutions, health insurance claims management, and payroll verification systems, many of which are integrated with the Ghana Card to help eliminate ghost names in public sector payrolls and services.

The Chairman of the NIA Board, Mr. Moses Afetsi Positive, lauded Margin Group’s contributions to building a robust national identity system, saying the partnership had helped curb waste in public administration and bolster efforts to combat cyber fraud. He described the Ghana Card as a long-term national asset that should be devoid of partisan debate.