- Zetes given responsibility for updating 6000 registration kits as well as for training the instructors of the Independent Electoral Commission and the technical staff
Brussels (Belgium), 26 January 2009 - Zetes, specialist in solutions for the automatic identification of goods and people, announces the signing of a contract with the United Nations for the updating of 6000 registration kits. This will make it possible for the Independent Electoral Commission of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to update the voter registration lists of the DRC.
In 2005 the DRC had already called upon Zetes to do a census of its population on the occasion of the national elections. The new agreement comes shortly before urban, municipal and local elections are to be held. The lists established in 2005 need to be updated, notably in order to add new voters who have reached voting age and to remove those who have died.
The enrolment stations delivered by Zetes in the DRC at the time of the first contract will be updated. Zetes is developing a new version of the software which will improve the functionalities and will be installed in all of the stations. Zetes has also been put in charge of the training programme and will furnish technical assistance in the field duringthe census period.
This project, valued at around two million EUR, will extend over a period of several months during the first half of 2009.
This contract, as well as those recently concluded with other African countries, had been expected earlier by the Group. Their implementation in 2009 entails that the company currently expects a 2008 consolidated turnover which will be comparable to that of 2007, and a profitability (EBITDA on sales) in line with the target of 8% announced in the interim business report of 10 November 2008.
Alain Wirtz, CEO of Zetes, comments : « The DRC was the first country to entrust the identification of its population to Zetes within the framework of national elections. For the company, this project was and remains an excellent reference on the African continent and elsewhere in the world. The use of biometry guarantees that each individual appears only once on the voter registration lists. We therefore appreciate the confidence that the DRC and the United Nations are placing in us, and are delighted with this new collaboration to prepare for the coming elections.»
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