Africa’s identity verification powerhouse: Smile ID; the largest identity verification platform in Africa.

Clients include banks, retailers, and fintechs. Anyone in the space needing to verify who their end users really are.

✅ 361M+ ID checks completed across Africa (and counting!)- Almost, probably, definitely more at time of publishing.

I had the chance to speak with Ed Fricker, Director of Platform Engineering (API, not DevOps), about what’s next.

A complete revamp of their API in 2026, making identity verification even faster and more secure.

This is a fascinating space to watch as digital identity becomes critical for financial inclusion and trust across the continent.