African Development Bank and Partners Convene Inaugural Regional Meeting on Public Service Delivery Index
ABIDJAN/Ivory Coast: The African Development Bank, in collaboration with partners, namely the Tony Blair Institute and the International Labor Organization, has launched the first in a series of pivotal regional technical consultation meetings focusing on the Public Service Delivery Index (PSDI).
The PSDI is an initiative designed to assess public service performance in African nations, aligned with the Bank’s High 5s priorities.
The PSDI’s overarching objective is to make substantial contributions to enhancing the quality and reach of public services provided to African citizens. This is to be accomplished through ongoing monitoring and the transparent dissemination of information to the public and broader stakeholders.
The inaugural meeting took place in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on Monday, October 30.
These regional technical consultation meetings are strategically convened to solicit feedback and pertinent data essential for validating the selected measurements (indicators) for the PSDI. Furthermore, they will serve as forums for gathering insights and commentary on the methodology, framework, and structure of the Index.
During his opening address, Professor Kevin Urama, Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management at the African Development Bank, underlined the pivotal role that efficient public service delivery plays in governance. He emphasized the transformative potential of enhanced public services in elevating citizens’ living standards and hastening the attainment of development objectives, including the Bank Group’s Ten-Year Strategy, the High 5s, and Africa’s Agenda 2063.
Urama extended his gratitude to the partner institutions for their commitment to contributing to this significant effort, emphasizing the imperative of a transparent framework and process to ensure the PSDI’s transparency.
The partner institutions conveyed their enthusiasm for collaborating with the African Development Bank in these ongoing PSDI regional technical consultations.
Setting the stage for the meeting, Dr. Eric Ogunleye, the Director of the African Development Institute, elucidated the consultations’ objectives, anticipated outcomes, and the weighty responsibility borne by participants in providing feedback that will assist the African Development Bank in advancing transparency and accountability in public service delivery within its Regional Member Countries.
The discussions were steered by the PSDI technical advisory committee members.
The meeting also featured a comprehensive presentation of the PSDI framework, offering insights into the survey’s background and tools. Notably, the survey achieved successful completion in July 2023, covering an impressive 90% of African countries, totaling 49 nations.
This process continues through a series of regional technical consultative meetings in different regions, with the upcoming sessions scheduled in Kenya on November 2, 2023; South Africa on November 7, 2023; Cameroon on November 10, 2023; Nigeria on November 13, 2023; and Tunisia on November 21, 2023.
