HSP-EMEA Makes Its African Debut with a Record Audience

This February, HSP EMEA marked its 22nd edition with its largest event yet. For the first time, the conference was on the African continent (Rabat, in Morocco), highlighting the region’s growing economic momentum and role in global technology and development, particular as regards secure printing, identity management, and related technologies. 

A record 341 delegates from 146 organisations in 49 countries attended, a 28% increase from last year. A notable rise in central bank and government delegations gave the event a different regional balance compared with previous editions.

Although attendance grew, Astrid Mitchell, CEO of Reconnaissance, emphasised that the main priority of the conference is the quality of engagement and insights, not just the numbers, adding that the HSP platforms remain firmly focused on building meaningful collaboration across the industry and on supporting a stronger, more connected high-security printing ecosystem.

Program begins with Currency and ID in the EMEA region

The conference began with a welcome from the Managing Director of Dar As-Sikkah, Hassan Regraga, who introduced Morocco’s currency operations. Ahmed Lemrhabbar and Liwa-Eddine Anjjar shared details on the print and minting facilities respectively, while Hashem Mogahed from Egypt’s Ministry of Justice discussed the counterfeiting threat to security documents in the region and IN Groupe presented its LASINK™ technology.

The programme was then split into two parallel tracks. 

Track 1: Currency

The currency sessions covered regional developments, sustainability, data-driven authentication, and new production methods.

The first of those included Landqart d’s growing Durasafe® program (now used in 11 countries, 23 denominations, and over two billion notes), PWPW’s commemorative banknote for the millennium coronation of Poland’s first king, and the US Currency Education program.

The Dutch National Bank explained how Intelligent Banknote Neutralisation Systems operate in the Netherlands, particularly for the cross-border movement of notes damaged in ATM attacks, and shared ideas for improved protection. Banco de España introduced its Application of Banknotes and Technology (ABT), a reference tool covering banknotes from 180 countries.

The sustainability session, with CCL Secure, Papierfabrik Louisenthal, SICPA, and Kusters, highlighted a continued shift away from landfilling unfit notes, although progress has slowed. A survey revealed that central banks prioritise carbon reduction and sustainable procurement, while industry places greater emphasis on durability.

In a survey during the session of central banks and other industry delegates about their sustainability priorities, the priorities were slightly different.

Track 2: Identity

The identity program began with a session on the future of identity and travel documents. Speakers from Toppan Security, the former HSI Forensic Laboratory, and Liechtenstein authorities discussed using colour as a security tool, lessons from fake driver’s licenses, and a new model case for passport and ID issuance.

The afternoon shifted to a design-led approach. Whilst the National Identification Authority of Ghana briefed on digital identity ecosystems, a presentation from the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board shared the story behind their award-winning new-generation national ID card, issued from November 2025. IQ structures shared insights on how design approaches facilitated a smooth transition to polycarbonate documents.

ANY Security presented a collaborative sample ePassport, developed with partners including SICPA, IQ Structures, BP Security, Hueck Folien and ANY SecLab. Framed as a ‘journey through security, art and collaboration,’ the booklet showed how a coherent design can support an integrated security architecture.

The following session on physical and digital identity combined technology and policy perspectives. Speakers presented next-generation optical security features, new promotional and national ID cards, large-scale identity transformation projects such as Liberia’s foreigner register, Georgia’s new e-passport and eID, and strategies to counter AI-generated document fraud.

An interesting case was the Georgian presentation. Developed by Veridos in collaboration with the Public Service Development Agency (Ministry of Justice) and designer Nino (Nitta) Gongadze, the programme aligns six passport types and four identity cards across materials, features, and visuals.

The final identity session addressed the physical–digital interface, covering hybrid tax stamps (Luminescence/JURA), data-driven operational optimisation (SisTrade Software), smartphone authentication based on quantum effects (Quantum Base), dynamic optical features (Demax) and the future direction of tax stamps and traceability systems (ITSA).