The Federal Government has launched the National Digital Alphanumeric Postcode System, giving addressable buildings across Nigeria a unique digital identity.

The system, launched through the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) on Thursday, is expected to improve emergency response, security, commerce and public service delivery, while tackling losses linked to poor addressing.

Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, announced the launch in a post on his official X page.

He noted that Nigeria loses an estimated N50 billion to N80 billion annually through missed and failed deliveries caused by poor addressing.

But the minister stressed that the problem goes beyond deliveries, affecting emergency services, security operations, financial services, businesses and government planning.

“For a country to work efficiently, we need to be able to answer one very basic question. Where?” Tijani asked.

He further highlighted the practical implications, including knowing where an ambulance should go during an emergency, where a business is located and where government should direct critical services.

Under the new system, every addressable building is assigned a unique 11-character alphanumeric postcode linked to its geographical location. The code is built through five levels — state, local government area, district, area and building.

The postcode belongs to the building rather than its occupant. It can therefore remain with a property even when the people living or working there change.

It is also designed to complement, rather than simply replace, conventional address details by providing a standard digital reference that can be used across different platforms.

Tijani urged Nigerians to find their postcodes, save them and start using them when sharing their locations.

“Every Nigerian deserves to be found. Every business deserves the chance to reach its customers. And every community deserves to be within reach of opportunity,” he added.

The Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer of NIPOST, Tola Odeyemi, had earlier described the initiative as a machine-readable framework for identifying addressable buildings nationwide.

“Postcode is basically a framework used to have a machine-readable standard location address for every addressable building in Nigeria,” Odeyemi said during the validation of the postcode model in June.

She also disclosed that poor addressing costs the country between N50 billion and N80 billion annually in misdeliveries.

The Postmaster General has stressed that the system is not merely a postal reform but a piece of national infrastructure with applications in logistics, e-commerce, emergency response, financial services, security and public planning.

For businesses, the postcode can provide a common location reference for customer records, deliveries, e-commerce and other transactions.

Government agencies and emergency responders could also use the system to identify locations more accurately when planning services or responding to incidents.

The Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy has described the project as a critical component of Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure. It is intended to provide a unique, verifiable location identity that can strengthen public safety, security and service delivery.

The system is GIS-enabled and covers addressable buildings in both urban and rural communities.

NIPOST’s official platform allows Nigerians to search for, save and share their postcodes. The service also provides a process for requesting a postcode where a building has not yet been captured.

Organisations will equally be able to integrate the digital postcode into their platforms and workflows, allowing different services to work with a common location reference.

Tijani linked the initiative to the Federal Government’s wider digital economy agenda and President Bola Tinubu’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.

“As we work towards H.E. President @officialABAT’s ambition for a $1 trillion economy, we must build the foundations that allow more Nigerians to participate, trade and prosper,” he said.

The minister urged Nigerians to visit postcode.gov.ng, find their codes and begin sharing them with businesses, service providers, family members and others who need to locate them.