The report, copied to the Ghana News Agency, said governments in emerging economies in Africa and Asia, such as Ghana, Malawi and Nigeria, were following Estonia's lead and rapidly developing digital identity programmes. 

It said on contrast, markets across Europe and North America would be led by the financial services sector and digital driving licences, rather than formal government identification, according to Juniper.

The analyst firm anticipates "mobile single sign-ons" would play a central role in several digital identity platforms, with over one billion users by 2023 generating over US$5 billion in revenues per annum.

However, it expected less than 10 per cent of dedicated identity apps to be blockchain-based by 2023.

Meanwhile, a survey of almost 1,500 U.S. consumers found that Americans opened more new accounts online with their mobile devices 61 per cent than on a computer 56 per cent in the past 12 months.

The study by ID technology company IDology also found that in the past year, 83 million Americans abandoned an account registration mid-way through the process.

"Friction is still one of the biggest barriers between businesses and consumers," IDology noted.

"The one-click simplicity of the mobile age has conditioned consumers for instant gratification", the release said.